Kapiti News

Benefits of growth evident throughout

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I was fortunate to visit Speldhurst Country Estate Lifestyle Village last week.

Wow, what a transforma­tion since John Key opened this site just over two years ago.

Wayne and Bridget Bishop have built 100 affordable homes since then and because of this success many are now being purchased off the plans.

As I toured ‘The George’ (the central community centre for residents) I was blown away by the finish and amenities it has to offer. The indoor pool, full size billiard table and soon to open cafe will be real drawcards.

This developmen­t has created a huge amount of economic activity in Horowhenua and numerous subcontrac­tors have taken on more staff to keep up with this building boom.

According to recent stats Horowhenua’s GDP growth over the last 12 months to March this year is a staggering 4.8 per cent, well above the national average. This is having many positive flow on effects for the likes of retailers and hospitalit­y outlets.

For this boom to continue the community and Horowhenua District Council need certainty as the where the road from Otaki to north of Levin will be located and built.

This momentum could easily stall if a decision is not made and congestion in Levin’s Main Street will become a big frustratio­n for motorists.

Kapiti has tended to have pretty impressive economic growth numbers over the last decade, and this is backed up by the unemployme­nt rate dropping from 6.7 to 4.4 per cent in the last five years.

This local job creation has been helped by the Kapiti Expressway which has seen businesses come and locate here.

I’m hopeful that having Air Chathams fly from Kapiti to Auckland in a few months’ time will also help our region’s growth and connectivi­ty to New Zealand’s largest city.

It’s great to see the positive impacts decent infrastruc­ture can have on our community as we all continue to benefit from this growth.

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