Holcim is trying to drum up public support for its proposed $200m cement plant at Weston, near Oamaru, with a series of newsletters to local residents. The company is circulating three newsletters, outlining the economic benefits to the North Otago community of the proposed cement works, and urging those who support it to make submissions to the Waitaki District and Otago Regional councils. In the newsletters,  Holcim’s General Manager of Strategy and Development, Paul Commons, stresses the company would not be applying for resource consents unless it was confident the proposed plant complied with all relevant environmental guidelines, standards and other requirements.  
 
Commons notes about $106m of the plant’s total construction cost would be spent locally, with up to 450 people employed on its construction, pumping an estimated $30m in wages into the North Otago district over two years. There would also be an ongoing benefit of about $8m annually in wages for local people once the plant is operating.  
 
The proposed plant will produce 788,000t of cement a year, entirely for the NZ market.  
 
Advertisement