Liquidator Grant Thornton is seeking expressions of interest from groups wanting use the campus for vocation education and training and local community leaders believe there are providers wanting to be involved.
William Beetham, part of a regional leaders group looking at options for the Masterton campus, says he is confident vocational training will be resurrected on the site.
“We are not trying to set up as a provider but setting up of the regional leaders group was to work to facilitate agricultural training and make sure it is the right training, the right provider at the right level and the right number and this fits in perfectly with what we are trying to achieve.”
Beetham says an operator could be in place next year but it is much more important to have the right provider than to rush it.
“Unquestionably, there are providers interested.
“We are very confident but the key is to have the right training delivered.”
Liquidators are seeking an operator to own the campus assets, run the farm and provide education, which it says could involve one or multiple entities.
Any operator will require approval from the Tertiary Education Commission, Ministry for Primary Industries and the ministers of education and agriculture.
The liquidators say the request for proposals is designed to enable all creditors to be repaid or agreement reached that satisfies those still owed money.
Reintroducing training will also restore the original intent of the farm, which was given to the Crown for vocation education.
It says a further goal is to create a lean vocational training centre offering quality education at the right scale, a partnership between industry and education and for it be considered part of the Primary Industry Centre of Vocational Excellence programme.
Beetham says the proposal is potentially exciting because it will be led by the farming industry and community and is consistent with the Government’s vocational training sector reforms.
