Receivership on top of tragedy
Five companies owned by a North Canterbury trucking operator with a track record of business failure have gone into receivership.
Farmer’s First Livestock, Farmer’s First Transport, Farmer’s First Logistics, Farmer’s First Livestock (NZ) Ltd and FFL Ltd were placed in receivership on March 1 after the companies failed to meet payment demands by NZ Trade Finance.
Farmer’s First’s director and shareholder, Leonard Bourton, 49, said his business ran about 13 trucks, which were parked up while matters were sorted out.
Bourton’s company failures come on top of a personal tragedy in January when his fiancee Peta Kerr was killed in a headon collision north of Christchurch. Their 7-month-old baby William survived the crash without injury.
Bourton, who is originally from Ireland, said it was not a difficult time despite his recent bereavement.
“It’s called New Zealand,” he said. “We live in a country full of idiots.”
Bourton claimed he had reached an agreement about payment with receiver Gareth Hoole, of Ecovis KGA, and said the companies would be out of receivership by Friday.
Hoole said receivers were working with all parties including Bourton and his legal team to resolve matters.
“If it is possible to be settled by this coming Friday, then the receiverships will naturally come to an end by then. While we remain optimistic, it is difficult to say whether that goal will be achieved by then as it will require all the parties involved to be in complete agreement and for a number of dots to be joined.”
Bourton said his five staff were still getting paid out “of his own personal money”.
“It’s the honourable thing to do. Despite what people think I’m actually a straightup guy.
“To be honest I don’t care [what people write], that’s the nice thing about it. I’m at that blissful stage of life where a Kiwi opinion means absolutely nothing.
“I have a son who has to be brought up in this country so I would appreciate a little bit of common courtesy before everyone throws me under the bus.”
Bourton has a chequered financial history. He was declared bankrupt in 2012 and has presided over several company failures.
In June 2009 he set up livestock trader Lensar, which was placed in voluntary liquidation in June 2012. Liquidator’s reports revealed the company owed Inland Revenue about $70,000 in PAYE and GST, secured creditors $1.3 million and unsecured creditors $688,000.
Bourton was also a shareholder in LBT Transport (2014) Ltd, which he and other shareholders put into liquidation in May 2015. The company was a contractor to stock traders and meat processing companies and left debts of about $634,000.
Vaycay Trading was set up in January 2015 to transport and trade livestock. Bourton, who managed the business, owned 50% of the shares and director Carolyn Joy Menzies owned the other half.
Menzies ceased operations about January 2018 after Bourton left the country in 2017. The High Court ordered liquidation in April 2020. Subsequent investigation showed the company had about $750,000 in debts. Bourton said he was owed money by the company.
Asked to comment on the observation his business record did not inspire confidence, he said it depended who you talked to. “I’m an honest businessman. Remember that word doesn’t go to far in this country. I don’t hide behind anything. I don’t need to.”
Changes are needed to make a Church Corner intersection safe, local business owners say, despite local politicians deciding against taking such measures.
It comes after the Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton community board decided last week - for the second time - not to make safety improvements to the junction of Riccarton, Yaldhurst and Main South roads, one of the most crash-prone areas of Christchurch.
The board had been asked by city council staff to revoke a February 15 decision not to install a pedestrian crossing on Yaldhurst Rd and to stop the right-hand turn from Main South Rd into Riccarton Rd.
The decision was brought back to the board because new information had come to light. However, the public were not privy to that new information because it was discussed in secret to “maintain legal professional privilege”.
Board member Debbie Mora pushed for the information to be made public at the meeting last week, but her bid was not supported.
This week she said she did not believe the information was in fact new, and it did not change her view on the work.
At both meetings she voted against the work being done.
Mora said there were ways to reduce speed in the area to make it safer and believed new options would come back to the board.
However, the board has made no recommendation asking staff for that to happen.
Zy Joy Asian grocery store owner Roy Zeng said he supported the proposal to put in a crossing because it would help keep people safe.
He said it was “necessary to make some road changes”, as he heard “several” crashes each year near the exit of Main South Rd.
However, Zeng, who has run the shop with his wife Nancy Yang since 2008, said the crossing was not what businesses in Chinatown needed the most - that would be a public toilet.
“Chinatown is becoming a must-visit for overseas tourists, but there is no public toilet. Having one would be beneficial for the city and our country at large,” he said.
An employee working at Dragon Garden Chinese restaurant said people using the pedestrian traffic island outnumbered the ones using the nearby lights.
“It’s not safe. It’s just for convenience, I suppose.”
Sockburn resident Logan Cane said he regularly walked or drove through the area and had been looking forward to the changes being made.
“I don’t understand why they made that decision. In my mind it seemed like a win-win for everybody.”
He said he was irked by the fact that some board members appeared to disregard advice from traffic engineers.
“I don’t think it’s the board’s place to be undermining professional advice unless the board members themselves have engineering degrees.”
Hornby councillor Mark Peters said during last week’s meeting that he was absolutely opposed to the plan to rid Main South Rd of the right hand turn into Riccarton Rd.
Forcing people to go up Curletts Rd to get to Riccarton Rd would cause traffic chaos, Peters said.
Riccarton councillor Tyla Harrison-Hunt, who voted for the work to go ahead, said all he was trying to do was make the community safer for everyone.
He said the reason the issue returned to the board was because of potential liabilities involved.
“When people’s lives come into play, it should take precedent over everything.”
Church Corner Residents’ Association co-chairperson Tony Rider said the residents were not opposed to the work being done, and that they believed it would have gone hand in hand with other safety projects that had been completed in the area, including cycle lanes.
Rider said accidents at the corner happened fairly regularly and many involved motorists turning right from Main South Rd.
The board’s vote last Thursday was tied four-all, meaning the status quo remains and the work does not go ahead.
Councillor Andrei Moore, Harrison-Hunt and board members Marie Pollisco and Sarah Brunton voted for the work to happen.
Peters and board members Mora, Henk Buunk and chairperson Helen Broughton voted against. Board member Gamal Fouda was not at the meeting for the vote, as he had to leave to attend a March 15 terror attack commemorative event.
Broughton, who appeared confused about the consequences of the vote, said at the time she was in favour of the issue coming back to the board.