Waipa launches out of Covid year
Predictions of doom by economists during the Covid-19 lockdown periods have been confounded by the most recent figures released in Waipa District, according to Waipa District Council group manager district growth and regulatory services, Wayne Allan.
A read through the district’s recently released quarterly growth report shows more than $100 million in consents issued by value in the first three months of this year, including residential, industrial and commercial builds.
‘‘The interesting thing was that there was a lot of concern during the Covid lockdown around what was going to happen to the flow of building consent applications,’’ Allan said.
‘‘But we have seen continuing growth in the district, last year and this year. Growth has actually accelerated. We’ve been working hard and we are looking at our staffing levels to allow us to keep up with the processing requirements.’’
Among the projects proposed to materialise in the not-toodistant future will be a variety of residential developments, including compact and terraced housing, retirement villages and stages of two large subdivisions which will bring around 600 residential lots on stream.
Non-residential developments include an accommodation and function venue, a health hub, and the redevelopment of the popular Finlay Park school camp situated on Lake Karapiro.
‘‘Waipa is a Tier 1 growth area under the national policy statement on urban development so we have to provide for urban growth,’’ Allan said.
‘‘There is a lot of pressure from the Government to provide more housing and more affordable housing. It is a high priority for us to meet the market demands while trying to recover the infrastructure costs from developments to support the growth.’’
The activity requires a great deal of infrastructure: roads, water, wastewater services. This costs a lot. Waipa information shows a capital works budget of
$832.4 million over the next 10 years and operating expenditure of $1.16 billion. Debt levels remain relatively low at around
$300m. The rates impact this year is set at an average of 4.1 per cent but over 10 years in the Long Term Plan, averages 1.8 per cent.
While the Waipa 2050 Growth Strategy document identifies growth cells, or areas, around almost all major and minor centres, the primary focus for growth is in and around Cambridge and Te Awamutu. Cambridge in particular is expected to experience continual pressure for growth and development, requiring careful planning for good community outcomes.
District business development manager Steve Tritt said land for residential development is going ahead in Te Awamutu and a major retirement village has been brought forward due to demand. Industrial land off Bond Rd is attracting manufacturing, food processing and transport companies. ‘‘We are seeing new businesses coming into the towns in retail and hospitality. In Cambridge there’s a very funky area of infill retail, it’s very busy.’’