New supermarket planned for Nelson Junction
Nelson’s big box retail development could be home to a new supermarket in 2025.
Development company Gibbons has applied for resource consent to build a new 4000m² Woolworths supermarket at its Nelson Junction development, which is already home to Mitre 10 and The Speights Ale House.
Other retailers heading to new stores at the site include Bed Bath and Beyond, The Mountain Warehouse, Hunting and Fishing, BedsRus and Aki Sushi.
The move to build a supermarket at the site comes after Nelson City Council in December approved a plan change to allow supermarket developments at the site.
That decision was made behind closed doors, but the full report was released yesterday.
According to the Nelson City Council, the rule banning supermarkets at the site was a “historical anomaly”, which came about in 2006/7, when Foodstuffs New Zealand (South Island) sought to restrict supermarket development at the site, leading to a rule being inserted into the Nelson Resource Management Plan. The Resource Management Act was later changed to exclude trade competition matters from plan decisions.
Foodstuffs operated New World and Pak’nSave supermarkets.
Yesterday, Woolworths New Zealand’s director of property, Matthew Grainger, confirmed they were planning to build a new supermarket at the site.
“GP Investments Limited, owned by the Gibbons family of Nelson, has applied for resource consent to develop a Woolworths supermarket at its Nelson Junction development,” he said.
The store would be a ‘‘state-of-the-art supermarket to service the growing Nelson community”.
“We’re always looking for new opportunities to better serve our customers across Aotearoa and it’s great to be at this stage with our proposed new store. We’re also exploring options to upgrade our existing local stores and will share plans for this with the community in due course.”
If the resource consent was approved it would be 4000m² with 190 car parks and the “latest store features and designs”, he said.
“The Woolworths store will be a Greenstar rated development, similar to the Woolworths in nearby Richmond which was New Zealand’s first Greenstar-rated supermarket development.”
If no appeals were lodged the plan change would take effect from February 23.
Gibbons managing director Scott Gibbons said the plan change process had been positive, which was why they had lodged resource consent for a new supermarket on January 9, ahead of the appeal period.
“Gibbons feel that this decision is reflective of the overall process, in particular the hearing process and supporting evidence,
which on the whole was supportive of the concept of a supermarket.”
The development was in the early stages, but all going well the supermarket could open by mid to late 2025, he said.
The company was “progressively leasing” the rest of the retail space at the development, with about 70% to 80% under contract. More tenants would be announced as appropriate, he said.
The location between Tāhunanui and Stoke, along with ample parking, was a major drawcard for the development.
“This is going to service that growing area appropriately with a mix of offerings.”
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith welcomed the development of a Woolworths in the area as “good news”.
“It provides more choice for households in Tāhunanui and Stoke at a time when food prices are going up.”
Policy advice consistently showed that more competition led to lower prices for consumers, he said.
The previous planning rules were written at a time known as the “supermarket circus”, when planning rules could be used to block companies building new supermarkets and increasing competition. He had changed that law when he was Environment Minister in 2010, and this plan change bought the rules at Nelson Junction in line with the law.
He welcomed the “significant investment” at Nelson Junction, but said work would need to continue to address challenges in the central city.
The new Woolworths, along with a new New World development in Stoke, would help improve options and prices for shoppers in Tāhunanui, Smith said.
“If we are to get consumers a better deal ... we need as much competition as possible.”