The news Dunedin will host seven of the matches in the 2015 Fifa Under-20 World Cup is fantastic for football and sporting fans alike - and a timely boost for the city.
Changes to AgResearch's plan to cut Invermay's campus have been welcomed, but critics are angry most of its more than 100 staff are still set to shift north.
AgResearch, in foolishly ploughing ahead with its reorganisation, has failed abysmally to take heed of what is best for agriculture, the economic foundation of this nation.
AgResearch chief executive Dr Tom Richardson has shot down a request, backed by three-quarters of union members, to put its restructuring plan on hold.
Farmers at Beef and Lamb New Zealand's annual meeting made an almost unanimous call for AgResearch to carry out more consultation over its plan to slash Invermay jobs.
AgResearch's admission it largely squandered $15.5 million on buildings in 2007 and 2008 inspires little confidence its latest plan will be a success, two former staff say.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has admitted there was no ''robust and accepted methodology'' behind shifting Invermay jobs, Labour's MP for Dunedin North David Clark says.
The Government has been slammed after a leaked document revealed it approved a ''shoddy'' AgResearch business case for restructuring, which included slashing jobs at Invermay.
A new leak reveals AgResearch made a submission to Dunedin City Council enthusiastic about expanding Invermay, only months before presenting plans to the Government to slash jobs at the facility.
AgResearch is yet to provide estimates of how many staff will be lost as a result of restructuring, despite a request from Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce.
A visiting Israeli scientist says Invermay's facilities are the envy of researchers around the world and he was shocked to hear of plans to slash jobs there.