16 | Port Waikato: MP Andrew Bayley Rapid growth brings issues to the fore Richard Loader REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Replete with an interesting mix of high quality agricultural and horticultural businesses, along with a rapidly growing number of houses for young families and a commuter population, developing suitable infrastructure is vital for Port Waikato’s future says National MP Andrew Bayley. Port Waikato, like all electorates, embraces a population base of about 62,000, and is experiencing significant growth. The electorate stretches from the Manukau Heads at the southern entrance to the Manukau Harbour, takes in Awhitu Peninsular and heads south past the settlement of Port Waikato, to Matira and Te Akau, goes inland to Mangatāwhiri and the Maramarua Forest. With a population of 27,000 Pukekohe is the major population centre, followed by the smaller towns of Waiuku, Tukau, Pōkeno and Te Kauwhata. Glenbrook Steel Mill, which is owned by Bluescope, is the electorate’s single largest employer. Located near Waiuku the mill employs about 1100 full time staff with contractors on top of that. “Glenbrook produces about six hundred and fifty thousand tonnes of steel a year. It’s a really innovative business originally set up under the New Zealand Government. It takes iron sands from the northern part of Port Waikato and transports it forty kilometres to the steel mill, produce high quality steel using unique technology. Mainly for domestic use, a portion is exported to the Islands.” But with rich volcanic soils and a frost free climate the electorate embraces an abundance of horticultural farming producing a range of fresh produce (lettuces, onions and potatoes) as well as other crops such as kiwifruit. “Pukekohe is massive in terms of growing a broad range of crops for people to eat and which are supplied to Auckland. There are lots of great growing places in New Zealand with good soils and good summers, but the one reason that Pukekohe is absolutely unique in New Zealand is that you can grow 365 days a year, whereas other areas are affected by frost. Without that we would be importing a lot more food. More cropping is also undertaken around Te Kauwhata.” While horticulture plays a significant role in and around Pukekohe, Andrew says over the last forty years more and more of that beautiful rich soils has been set aside for urban development “While Auckland used to be quite some distance away, now it’s knocking on the doorstep, and there’s a real tension between growers and residents. When you grow a crop of lettuces, for example, you have to spray them and pick them and you do that late at night/early morning. “New residents don’t like that and so it creates tension. The continual slicing away at this beautiful crop growing volcanic soil is not good, and it has been going on for a long time because of the demand for land.” In addition to horticulture, a large horse training industry exists in and around Pukekohe with some very significant studs. Then there is general farming. From the Waikato River south right across to Te Kauwhata, is all mainly hill country sheep and beef farming. “The electorate is a fast growing area and there’s also a lot of construction,” says Andrew. “Pukekohe itself is growing rapidly. Eighteen months ago the town got its first set of traffic lights, a clear signal as to its growth. We now have a 4500-section development underway at the old Wesley College.” Paerata Rise is a 300-hectare urban development between Karaka and Pukekohe and will be Auckland’s largest housing project, encompassing a train station transport hub, and a relocated Wesley College. About 400 houses have already been built. The area surrounding Pukekohe is expected to grow from 38,000 residents to 58,000 residents within the next 10 years. “There’s a large amount of development in Pokeno. Five thousand people live there but another fifteen hundred homes are going in, so three thousand people. Housing New Zealand is doing a lot of new development in Te Kauwhata and that town, while still small, is expanding rapidly.” “Three waters infrastructure is slowly being upgraded with a new sewerage system going in Waiuku.” Andrew says the electorate is now a bit of a commuter belt with a large number of people travelling north for work. “Finally after five off and on starts we’re getting an upgrade to the rail system with rail electrification from Pukekohe to Papakura. That project will be completed in the second half of 2024. But the big thing that we’ve missed is the Mill Road Project, which I was personally involved in.” The Mill Road project would have created an alternative motorway link to the Southern Motorway. It involves a 21.5 kilometre arterial route between Manukau and Drury, and ultimately into Pukekohe. Construction was expected to start at the beginning of 2022 but the Government has now significantly downgraded that project, which Andrew says will result in further choking of the existing three-lane southern motorway. “The southern part of Auckland only has one motorway from Manukau and if there is an issue on that motorway it’s bedlam for commuters. We have a lot of glasshouses in the area with people who deliver a diverse range of crops and there are a lot of freight movements. There are two thousand containers that go from Pukekohe up north every month and then you have a growing number of commuter cars. You have industry and people getting frustrated. There are thousands of new homes going into Franklin but the existing three-lane motorway cannot cope. You need new roads, you need rail and you need water and wastewater.” Andrew Bayley on the farm: “The electorate is a fast growing area and there’s also a lot of construction.” With its rich volcanic soils and frost free climate, Pukekohe embraces an abundance of horticultural farming producing a range of fresh produce.
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