Source: Radio New Zealand
Wayne Brown. NZME
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is considering coming to the rescue of Kaitāia’s beleaguered timber mills – but in his capacity as a private businessman.
The Japanese company that owns the two mills, Juken NZ, has said it will close them down, with the loss of about 200 jobs, if a buyer cannot be found.
The two-month sale period is due to end this week.
Brown, a two-term former Far North mayor who already has extensive business interests in Kaitāia, told RNZ he was considering buying the Triboard and Northland mills as going concerns.
“I’m chewing it over, would be the best I can say at the moment. Chewing it over.”
However, he said it was too early to divulge more, including who he was working with.
Brown has previously developed a number of large commercial properties in the North Park area, next to the mills, and is a landlord to private businesses and government agencies.
He has also developed properties in Mangōnui and Kerikeri, also in the Far North.
During his time as Far North mayor he revived and pushed through a stalled project to build the Te Ahu Centre, which included a library, community hall, cinema, museum and council service centre at the southern end of Kaitāia.
Northland MP Grant McCallum earlier told RNZ he had met a consortium of local and national investors keen to keep the mills operating, but could not say who was involved.
Kaitāia’s Triboard Mill. RNZ/Liz Garton
When announcing its plan to exit Kaitāia earlier this year, Juken NZ said the mills had been affected by declining export markets and high costs, especially electricity.
The mills are also major water users, consuming about a third of Kaitāia’s town supply.
Juken is planning to keep its Masterton mill, which is newer and makes similar products.
on Wednesday, Workers First Union organiser Marcus Coverdale warned closure of the mills would have a “devastating effect” on the town – not just on the 200 workers and their families, but also on a construction firm that used Triboard to build prefabricated homes, trucking firms, supermarkets, and every other business that relied on workers spending their wages in town.
The union has called a public meeting at Te Ahu from 4.30pm on Saturday.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/21/chewing-it-over-auckland-mayor-wayne-brown-mulls-buying-at-risk-kaitaia-mills/