Plan to set up medical services trust after $55m sale

After a $55 million windfall, a Central Otago high country farmer who sold part of his station to a mining giant is vowing to give back to the community.

Setting up a medical services trust is one of Bendigo Station owner John Perriam’s plans following the sale of part of the high-country farm to be mined for gold.

"Our family are proposing setting up a charitable trust or foundation to support medical services for local people," Mr Perriam said.

Having the mined land returned to use as a public park once the work was completed was a hope he also held.

"It is my express wish that the land is restored and left for yet another park for future generations to enjoy."

Making the decision to sell 800ha, about 10% of the station’s land, to Santana Minerals had been complicated, Mr Perriam told the Otago Daily Times this week.

It had been a "long, difficult process" as a custodian of one of New Zealand’s "most iconic" high-country stations, he said.

Initially, he was only interested in leasing, not selling, land to Santana.

He and his late wife Heather knew what it was like to face compulsory acquisition for the public good, having been flooded out of their family farm in the late 1970s when the Clyde Dam was built, he said.

"This time I had a choice and was determined to keep control ... but seeing the benefits the Clyde Dam has brought to Cromwell and Central Otago, and the rigorous process that new-age gold mines have to go through, I have decided to stand aside and put trust into the New Zealand government process."

Mr Perriam has owned Bendigo Station since 1979.

While he farmed sheep, gold mining was an integral part of the property’s history.

Gold was discovered at Bendigo Creek in 1862.

The Bendigo Goldfields around the original Bendigo settlement became one of the country’s richest, yielding an estimated 15 ounces to 50 ounces (0.4kg-1.4kg) of gold per week.

The initial alluvial gold rapidly played out, but quartz reefs bearing the precious metal were discovered in 1863. By the mid-1870s, the reef was considered New Zealand’s richest and mining continued in the area until the 1940s.

The settlement’s name was a relic of that era given by gold miners who had travelled from the Victorian goldfields in Australia.

"We are proud of our ancestors and the sacrifices they made and we are direct descendants of the original settlers that arrived during the first gold rush over a century ago," Mr Perriam said.

Bendigo Station, renowned for its fine merino wool, made headlines in 2004 when a merino wether named Shrek was caught after evading muster for six years. When eventually shorn its wool weighed 15kg, more than three times the average fleece. Subsequent fleeces were used to raise money for charity.

The Perriams restructured their property in the late 1990s into multipurpose land ownership and it includes public parks, walkways and lifestyle and vineyard zones, all while continuing to raise fine-wool merinos.

Mr Perriam said they were warned about throwing Bendigo so open to the public and noted they had "had our challenges", but were proud of what had been achieved."

Sons Stewart and Daniel Perriam farmed the station and commercial property Tarras Village was owned and operated by daughter Christina and her husband Callum.

"[Tarras Village] is a legacy to not only my late wife Heather but all the stories from Bendigo including Shrek the sheep."

Retired and living at Millbrook, near Arrowtown, with wife Liz, Mr Perriam looked back at Bendigo with pride.

"I am looking forward to the future and seeing the next generation reap the benefits and opportunities new gold brings to our local community and region."

That was already happening as Santana and Bendigo worked together on upgrading water schemes and roading access for the public, he said.