Factory model – beds for all
A big name in the bed-making world is looking at moving out of Auckland to the Waikato and building affordable houses to lure its workers south.
Sleepyhead is looking at sites for a possible relocation from Auckland – one of them is Ohinewai, between Hampton Downs and Huntly.
The vision is reported to involve building hundreds of homes priced within a factory worker’s reach, and also encouraging other businesses down to the area.
If that all comes to pass, there could easily be 1000 people employed in the area, Waikato district mayor Allan Sanson said.
It could also boost nearby Te Kauwhata, on the other side of Lake Waikare – a village already in line for a new housing development and wastewater plant.
Sleepyhead’s possible move is still in the due diligence stages, Sanson said, but became common knowledge locally when the company showed up at a public council meeting for the area.
The company was looking at moving its Auckland operation, Sanson said, and affordable staff housing was a motivator.
‘‘One of the problems they related to me was factory staff can’t afford $600,000, $700,000, $800,000 houses in Auckland.’’
Sleepyhead has well over 500 staffers in Auckland – some whose families have worked for the company for generations.
‘‘Their idea is to build a large industrial park with their own factory on it – which is an incredibly large factory – and then build around 900 affordable houses for their staff to purchase if they so wish.
‘‘I applaud them for wanting to do that for their people.’’
The concept has echoes of the Kiwi company towns of the 1960s to 80s, such as Tokoroa and Kawerau, where pulp and paper mill operators knocked up hundreds of modest houses to attract workers.
But the idea is nothing new, with the Victorian era the heyday of model towns like Britain’s Bournville, where the Cadbury family’s Quaker faith and economic drivers combined to inspire an entire village with amenities for the chocolate factory workforce.
Sleepyhead is keen to bring other businesses down into a kind of industrial park, and there has been strong interest, Sanson said.
That would also create opportunities for people in areas such as Huntly and Te Kauwhata.
Sleepyhead responded to a request for comment with a statement from director Craig Turner.
‘‘We’re investigating a number of relocation possibilities and Ohinewai is one of those,’’ he said.
The district council hasn’t received any resource consent applications for industrial
‘‘Their idea is to build a large industrial park with their own factory on it . . . and build around 900 affordable houses for their staff to purchase if they so wish.’’ Waikato district mayor Allan Sanson
development at Ohinewai but rezoning for industrial and residential growth was a request from some who submitted on council’s proposed District Plan.
The company approached Te Kauwhata, councillor
Jan Sedgwick said, but a lack of available land meant it looked across the lake to nearby Ohinewai.
Sedgwick herself is an Aucklander who moved to Te Kauwhata in the mid-2000s for the ‘‘real village experience’’.
Population growth has picked up in the past eight years, she said, well outstripping slower expansion over the previous 30 years.
And, in her time there, the once generalist Four Square has moved to the verge of becoming a New World, and stocks products such as pomegranate seeds and creme fraiche.
Over the next decade, Sedgwick hopes a growing population will bring more variety in leisure activities to the town, and more vibrancy and shops to the main street.
Bus services recently went from once a fortnight to a couple a day, she said, and there are currently about 3500 sections in various stages of the development process.
For example, Lakeside is a multi-stage, 1600-home development which will include KiwiBuild homes, a village centre, and a recreational lake.
So far 83 lots have been released and 26 are still available, said a statement from Winton, the company behind Lakeside.
A recent fact sheet puts Te Kauwhata’s population at 1770 people but the council expects that to jump to 10,898 in around 26 years’ time. There’s potential for it to be another Pokeno if conditions are right, Sanson said.
The area also attracted a $38 million government loan through the Housing Infrastructure Fund. The money will go towards a wastewater plant upgrade, meaning the area can cope with extra developments and the water discharge point will be moved away from Lake Waikare.