Sleepyhead town hits a snag
A massive company town development that would allow bedmaker Sleepyhead to move its workforce out of Auckland to Waikato has hit a snag ... over where to put the poo.
The inability to hook up to a fully compliant Huntly wastewater treatment plant could slow progress at Sleepyhead Estate’s major Ohinewai industrial and housing development site, a local councillor warns.
Comfort Group, whose 6000m2-plus foam manufacturing factory at the site opens in June, insists it’s not right to say that significant progress at Ohinewai has stalled because of wastewater issues. But it did note some “extended timelines”.
Waikato district’s Huntly councillor and Ohinewai resident David Whyte was asked outside his home this week what he’d heard about further progress at the project, costed earlier at $1.2 billion.
The Waikato Times approached him and other locals after a request, made last year, to visit the site for an on-the-ground update was put off. Any visit was deferred until access matters were sorted and could happen towards mid-year.
While he said Sleepyhead had been given the OK some years ago to develop the foam factory, Whyte understood other extensive wider development was not permitted until the Lumsden Rd site could be connected to a wastewater plant that complied with all relevant regulations.
The Huntly plant – which the Sleepyhead site buildings and homes would connect to – was no longer compliant with the latest regulations. Nitrogen and phosphorus outputs to the Waikato River were too high, Whyte said.
“They can’t progress until they are connected” to a fully compliant plant.
Waikato District Council had plans to upgrade Huntly’s wastewater plant but Whyte couldn’t provide financial estimates or indicative costings. “It’s not going to be cheap.”
The council was currently focused on implementing wastewater upgrades at Te Kauwhata and work on Raglan improvements had also started.
“When Raglan’s finished, Huntly is the next cab off the rank.”
One issue was that the current Huntly consent to operate was due to expire in 2028. The district council may not be able to renew the consent unless the plant was upgraded, adding to the urgency to rectify the problems.
Whyte wasn’t able to provide indicative timeframes for the work. “The concrete planning hasn’t been done,” he said.
A statement from Comfort Group said Sleepyhead had always indicated that – as with all greenfield projects – timing and staging of the development relied on critical infrastructure, including wastewater, being in place.
The Huntly wastewater upgrade issue had been discussed since the project’s inception, the statement said.
It quoted director Craig Turner as saying the company had been working with all relevant parties to progress access to infrastructure. “We’re confident there is a clear path forward to address solutions.”
He also outlined positive developments since the project was given planning and re-zoning approval in 2022. That included preparatory earthworks, getting building and resource consents, and having discussions on infrastructure issues.
“Planning and early works have been continuing for the next phases of the development: stage two, [a bigger] Sleepyhead factory; and stage three, the commercial area.
“A variety of factors will mean timelines are extended for these stages; however, the phasing remains the same.”
It’s expected the project will take more than a decade to complete, Turner said.
Approached on both Tuesday and yesterday for comment, Waikato District Council’s communications team said it wasn’t able to contact the right staff to provide a response.
Meanwhile, people living near the site have reported some very positive treatment of their concerns by Comfort Group but they also had a few niggles.
Dairy farmer Malcolm Lumsden, a former regional council committee member, had heard “hearsay” rumours of delays.
He said the company had “generously” agreed to install a bore and water treatment plant on his property to help ensure stock were properly watered because of the impacts on existing wells from site development.
But an issue relating to the project wanting access to some of his land was still potentially live – there were no current negotiations over this but there could in future.
Murray Bawden and wife Sue Stow, who live over the road from the site, said the Turner family had acted well towards them at times – for example, replacing a cracked concrete water tank, following problems related to earthworks, and a bore.
But dust from the site was “continuous”, said Bawden.
“I haven’t had a window open in the front of my home for four years because of the dust,” Stow said.
They were also concerned about traffic in and out of the site.
The pair said they didn’t expect quick progress on housing development.