Builders needed in the region

"It's the busiest it's been in years, there's no doubt about it." Brendan Graham

More construction workers are needed in Horowhenua as the district experiences its busiest period of construction in a decade.

Officials are also expecting a population explosion over the next few years and new houses are being built to cope with this demand.

For the year ending May 31, the Horowhenua District Council approved 178 building-consent applications for new homes.

This is the highest since the 2007/8 financial year.

Council strategic planner Tiffany Williams said the housing and population boom was significantly higher than expected when the council assessed the District Plan between 2011 and 2013.

‘‘[The] council [now] anticipates the growth will generate 3000 new jobs, 4900 new homes and 8300 more people calling Horowhenua home within 10 years.’’

This district’s population is about 32,000, but this could increase to 40,000 within a decade, Williams said.

Rodney Caldow, of Caldow Builders, said construction was so busy in Horowhenua that he was struggling to find available contractors and tradies.

‘‘If there are any carpenters looking for a job they can just ring me.’’

For the past 12 months, Caldow’s 20 builders have been working on Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom – a cultural and community hub in Foxton.

‘‘That’ll probably take another three months, then there’s a couple more big projects in the pipeline that will keep us busy for the next four years.’’

Smaller operators were also booked solid – Brendan Graham said his two-man Levin building business had almost 12 months of work lined up.

‘‘It’s the busiest it’s been in years, there’s no doubt about it.’’

New houses were popping up far more often and that was on top of the usual renovations, Graham said.

Horowhenua mayor Michael Feyen said bringing back the ‘‘old system’’ of putting people through apprenticeships and bonding them to the company for a few years could help. ‘‘We can’t get workers if we don’t offer apprenticeships.’’

The largest part the council could play was lobbying central Government to bring back apprenticeship initiatives, Feyen said.

He worked as an apprentice on the railways for four years in Palmerston North.

Offering apprenticeships that bound people to a company for a few years often meant they would remain in the district as their families grew, Feyen said.

On July 5, at a strategy committee meeting, the council discussed proposed changes to the District Plan to adjust for these new growth projections.

A council spokesman said the proposed changes included allowing properties between 500 and 900 square metres to be subdivided to create lots that have a minimum net site area of 250 sq m. Currently, the minimum net site area is 330 sq m.