Acting Detective Sergeant Al Lee said an Alexandra man had been arrested and charged on Friday night in connection with ‘‘a string of deliberately-lit fires, including the fire that devastated the Alexandra branch of Wastebusters''.
The fire in early September gutted the organisation's processing building, staffroom and re-use shop at its Boundary Rd base, as well as damaging the baler and processing conveyor belt.
Wastebusters was Central Otago's only recycling operation and was taken over by its Wanaka counterpart two months before the fire. Manager Sue Coutts, of Wanaka, said the arrest was ‘‘good news for us''.
‘‘We've been focused on getting back in business and gearing up for the busy summer season but this was really good news to hear ... The loss of the buildings and machinery set us back a long way,'' she said.
In a statement, Acting Det Sgt Lee thanked the community for its patience during the investigation and said he hoped people who previously might have been reluctant to approach police with information might now come forward.
● An Alexandra man appeared in the Queenstown District Court on Saturday on four charges of arson - one relating to Wastebusters and three separate arsons involving car fires.
Senior Sergeant Brian Benn, of the Southern District Command Centre, said the man was remanded in custody to appear in the Alexandra District Court on January 19.
The man also faced two charges of damaging property and one of cultivating cannabis.
