Part of Otiwhiti Station sold but training school will continue

Part of Otiwhiti Station, in the Turakina Valley near Hunterville, Rangitīkei District, has been subdivided and sold to a fund managed by Australian-headquartered global forestry investment manager New Forests, after a deal negotiated by Arotahi Agribusiness.

The 1246-ha estate, known as Otiwhiti Farm Forest, was acquired by New Forests following Overseas Investment Office approval.

The vendor, Otiwhiti Limited Partnership, will continue to provide a licence to Otiwhiti Station Land Based Training School to operate its successful agricultural education venture on the remaining portion of the property.

New Forests intends to establish and manage production forests on its newly acquired land, while working alongside the training school to assist in providing help provide enhanced rural educational opportunities to young people.

Joe Duncan, director of Otiwhiti Limited Partnership, said the subdivision and sale to New Forests followed a strategic land use review, which identified that the highly productive front (western) end of the farm offered the best potential to continue supporting the training school, which has been operating since 2007.

Duncan said 499 hectares of Otiwhiti Farm Forest is already planted under a Crown forestry right, which along with several successful neighbouring forests, proves the suitability of the land for forestry.

New Forests is one of the largest forestry investment managers globally, with over A$11b (NZ$11.8B) in assets under management, covering 1.3 million hectares of land in Australia and New Zealand, the United States, Southeast Asia and Africa.