Studio purchase good deal says Hulse

Purchasing the remaining 55.6 percent stake in the Auckland Film Studios for $1.5 million is a good deal for Auckland Council, deputy mayor Penny Hulse says.

Auckland Council Investments had a 44.4 percent stake in the studios and this week announced it will buy the remaining shares.

Earlier this year the majority shareholder in the facility, Tony Tay Film, went into receivership.

"I think for west Auckland it's a good thing that the council is buying the studios," Mrs Hulse says. "It's really positive that the film studios are going to stay in business."

She admits the value of the facility has dropped in recent years. In February, Mrs Hulse said the value of the studios' land and buildings had fallen from $10m to $7m.

"Most properties in New Zealand have. The cost of the purchase was reasonable."

Mrs Hulse says the council went through a rigorous process before buying the shares.

"We had the deal peer-reviewed and Auckland Council Investments chief executive Gary Swift is a pretty tough customer."

She doesn't believe the council has exposed itself to more risk.

But Te Atatu resident Gary Osborne is shocked at the news.

In February this year he said the council should sell its 44.4 percent stake.

"I've been calling for the council to get out of the deal for over a year," he says. "But now the council has had to step in and bail it out."

He says the film studios project is not worth the millions of dollars ratepayers have put into it.

Studio West director Murray Sweetman says the council has got a good deal. "I would have bought it for $1.5m."

He says Auckland Film Studios now has an advantage over private sector competitors like Studio West in Glen Eden because it has ratepayers' money behind it. "I don't like the idea of our rates being used to fund our competition."

- © Fairfax NZ News