THE DEBT PILES UP

I've been leaving the Dave Henderson soap opera alone for a while now - maybe I've been suffering from Henderson fatigue.

But, for the record, its worth noting that the receivers reported a fortnight ago that Hendo's Five Mile Village project now owes a whopping $93 million to secured creditors.

In September last year the receivers reported that Five Mile had some $79 million worth of debt.

According to the new report some $81m is owed to Hanover Finance - who displayed gross ineptitude when they lent Henderson the capital for his ludicrous village project just outside Queenstown.

The first stage of Five Mile Village, granted Environment Court approval in late 2005, following a 20-year debate, was proposed to house 2000 people, with an ultimate population of at least 10,000.

The first stage was supposed to include 25,000sq m of commercial development, including a supermarket and sports, appliance, furniture and fashion stores, bars and restaurants.

The big losers from Hanover's folly are its 16,500 investors who have seen none of their money since July last year. In December they agreed to a moratorium which will supposedly see Hanover pay off its $554m debt over the next five years.

One of the more prominent supporters of the Five Mile village project was Hendo's good mate Rodney Hide - and another neoliberal zealot. These days he seems less inclined to openly push that particular wheelbarrow.