[Bill Brown]

All five members of the Manfeild Park Trust Board have quit amid concerns over the park's financial stability.
Manawatu District Mayor Margaret Kouvelis confirmed a letter from the Manfeild Park Trust Board announcing its members planned to resign had been received by the council.
The Manawatu Standard understands that a failure to renegotiate the terms of two loans totalling about $6 million from the Palmerston North City Council and Manawatu District Council prompted the resignations.
Kouvelis said there would be a process to confirm the resignation and appoint a new board. Until that process was completed the council should not speculate or comment about what may have motivated the board to resign, she said.
According to an independent auditor's report by AuditLink on the Manfeild Park Trust for the year ended June 30, 2014 loans from the two councils of $2,993,169 and $2,952,703 respectively would require principal and interest repayments from April 1, 2015.
However it was unlikely the trust would be able to meet those repayments out of the funds generated by existing operations, the report said. The trust had been unable to renegotiate the terms of the loans at the time of the report last October.
The report also said the trust was forecasting an operational cash flow deficit for the 2015 financial year, which may require additional funding to meet the financial requirements of day-to-day operations.
These elements created uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the trust's ability to continue as a going concern and therefore the trust may be unable to realise its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business, the report said.
The Manfeild Park Trust was formed in October 2004 after the three main stakeholders in Manfeild – Manawatu District Council, Feilding Industrial Agricultural and Pastoral Association and the Manawatu Car Club – agreed to merge their property and interests.
The trust manages the 80 hectare park in Feilding which includes Manfeild racing circuit and Manfeild Stadium. Manfeild Park hosts hundreds of events each year including the Central Districts Field Days, and has been selected to host the NZ Grand Prix through to 2017.
Rangitikei MP Ian McKelvie, who was mayor of Manawatu District Council at the time the trust was formed, said while he was not sure of the exact reasons for the resignations it had become apparent the financial objectives set out for the trust had not been met. That could be for a range of reasons including the economic environment, he said.
He could understand the frustration of the two councils that their aspirations for the park had not been able to pass the post.
It was essential the park was made to work, he said. It was an incredible, world-class asset for the region.
It was hard for the Manawatu District to bear the burden of it alone, McKelvie said. In the early stages there had been attempts for it to be set up as a regional facility as the events it hosted were regional.
McKelvie said it was a valuable asset and the councils needed to find a way to make it work.
Palmerston North City Mayor Grant Smith said he was aware of the resignation of the trustees.
He said he was unable to comment further until he was better informed about the situation, but said that with the amount of Palmerston North City Council money involved, it was in a relatively serious position.
Manfeild Park Trust chairman Ben Vanderkolk would not comment and said inquiries on the matter should be directed to the district council.

From Stuff.co.
I'm sure not even Tony Quinn want to keep buying circuit after circuit.