Fonterra bought land to get say in housing development

FONTERRA paid $4 million for 4ha of industrialzoned land at Horotiu, north of Hamilton, to bolster its objection to a big housing development plan.

The dairy cooperative bought the land, comprising three adjoining blocks neighbouring its Te Rapa factory, late in 2017 during the financial year for which it posted a historic first net annual loss of $196 million.

Latest rating valuations for the blocks, as at September 1, 2018, are $700,000, $720,000 and $720,000, a total of $2.14 million.

Fonterra said it bought the land at 40, 50 and 58 Hutchinson Rd to ‘‘futureproof’’ its Te Rapa operations.

‘‘The land was purchased to enable us to have a say in a proposed residential development, classed as a special housing project. Under special housing regulations, we would need to be an immediate neighbour to be confident that we could provide feedback into these plans.’’

The housing development is called Te Awa Lakes and is planned by Waikato’s Perry Group.

The familyowned company’s bid to fasttrack its $1 billion housing and recreation project, which included 400 affordable homes, as a special housing area has since been rejected by the Government. Fonterra formally objected to the application.

Perry has now reverted to its original plan, first lodged with the Hamilton City Council in July 2017, to apply for a private plan change to allow its land to be rezoned from industrial.