$20 million loan refused

Nelson: The Tasman District Council has turned down a $20 million loan from the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, which has halted plans to upgrade one of its ports.

The top of the South Island’s aquaculture industry leaders had said government investment was the missing piece of the puzzle in Golden Bay’s burgeoning mussel industry.

The council has now said its proposal was dependent on a grant, not a loan, with funding also from ratepayers and industry.

Mayor Tim King said it was now too risky to proceed on terms where a loan had to be repaid.