Paerata New World proposed
Pukekohe may soon get its own New World supermarket, serving the Paerata area of town.
Foodstuffs has sought resource consent from Auckland Council for the proposed supermarket, to be built at 3 Comrie Pl and 11-17 Paerata Rd - which is the current site of Counties Inn.
A management plan, prepared for Foodstuffs by Tonkin and Taylor Ltd, indicates a single-level structure with a floor area of about 2,700 sqm to be constructed in the eastern section of the site.
In the report, environmental engineer Lean Phuah and project director Chris Freer proposed a mezzanine level on the northeastern part of the structure, with a combined area of 400 sqm.
A truck access way is also proposed, entering from Comrie Pl from the north and exiting to Paerata Rd in the north-western corner of the site.
The remainder of the area would be developed as customer parking.
Counties Inn business owner Jatinder Sandhu said there was a ‘‘50/50 chance’’ that the business would be sold.
He has owned the business, but not the land, for a year and employs around 15 staff.
‘‘It hasn’t gone unconditional yet,’’ Sandhu said.
‘‘If it does go ahead, there will be plenty of time to figure out what to do.’’
Counties Inn landlord, James Chapman, declined to comment.
Counties Inn was first established in 1968 and only minor changes have been made to this part of the site since.
The southern part of the site has been mainly residential.
Sandhu said there was a possibility the business could continue at a new location.
Catherine Reiss of Foodstuffs said the company was in the process of working through an agreement with the vendor and securing resource consent. ‘‘It’s very early days,’’ she said. Auckland Council’s Joanna Glasswell said the resource consent application was currently notified for submissions.
‘‘Following this, a hearing date (if required) will be scheduled. We won’t have a date for this until after the submissions have been considered.’’
Glasswell said the consent application was online and submissions could be made at:
http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/en/ratesbuildingproperty/consents/getinvolved/pages/ currentpubliclynotifiedconsents.aspx