Fresh look for Wainui mall
Wainuiomata’s rundown and largelydeserted mall is finally going to be knocked down and replaced with a new shopping precinct.
Owners Progressive will plans for the rebuild today.
The Wainuiomata Shopping Centre is to be demolished and replaced with a large Countdown supermarket, refurbished car park and a strip of retail outlets – much to the delight of some local politicians and retailers.
Hutt South MP Chris Bishop welcomed the plan, which he said would rejuvenate the Lower Hutt suburb.
‘‘Wainuiomata desperately wants a town centre they can be proud of, and Wainuiomata will get that with this plan.’’
The mall had become rundown, and replacing it had turned in to a long-running saga, Bishop added.
Labour MP Ginny Andersen said the new development would be ‘‘absolutely fantastic’’, especially on the back of a number of other projects under way in Wainuiomata.
The area was really starting to boom with house prices taking off, a major refurbishment of Wainuiomata College, a $50 million retirement home and Hutt City Council investing $11.1m in a cycling and walking path over the hill.
Locals felt that with so much happening, unveil the mall was a bit of a let-down and they deserved better shopping facilities, Andersen said.
‘‘There has always been a strong feeling that the way the mall looks like now is a bit of an embarrassment, a sad place to go into.’’
Pharmacist Clive Cannons agreed the mall was an embarrassment and said he was looking forward to seeing Countdown’s plans.
‘‘The mall is long past its use-by date and it will be great to get something fit for purpose.’’
Lisa Black, a local realtor and chairwoman of economic development organisation Love Wainuiomata,