Business North September 2020

100 | Volume 19 | Issue 3 businessnorth Zoned industrial and perfectly positioned within the Golden Triangle, Aotearoa Park lends itself well to a broad range of industrial uses but is especially suited to businesses involved in food processing, logistics and distribution. Just a kilometre out of Cambridge heading towards Te Awamutu, the site of the park was once part of the Weddell Aotearoa chain of meat processing plants. The site later became the home for Cochranes Transport and the Cochrane family is now spearheading the park’s development, taking advantage of its strategic location, infrastructure and unique services. Aotearoa Park is conveniently tucked centrally within the centre of Hamilton/Tauranga and Auckland—home to most of the Country’s population. Just off State Highway One, the Park offers easy access to those key distribution routes. “There’s also easy access to the Ports of Auckland and Tauranga and Hamilton’s inland port that is currently being developed,” says Libby Cochrane, General Manager for the development. “The park might also have particular appeal to Auckland companies out-priced through the Auckland market and looking for more economical set up costs while retaining great access to Auckland and Tauranga. The location also draws on quite a large area for its workforce for businesses looking for staff.” Existing services on site include water, wastewater, gas, ultra fast fibre and an 11kv electricity supply—essential for the food processing industry. “We’ve also set up a cold storage facility and we provide a third party cold storage service,” says Libby. “Inghams Enterprises came on site when we first had Cochranes Transport here and they have developed a distribution centre and processing plant on site.” Encompassing 16 hectares, the park includes eleven separate lots with sizes ranging from 800sqm to 1.5 hectares, with the potential to house large industrial buildings for a variety of industrial purposes. “Because of its zoning, industrial businesses are not going to need consent,” says Libby. “Existing tenants at the park are mainly involved in distribution at this point because of its location but there are some civil construction companies there as well. Leases can be for long-term ground lease for development by the leasee or we can do a design and build development for them.” For businesses wanting Aotearoa Park to undertake a design and build development Libby says initial requirements would be obtained from the business and submitted to an engineer or architect enabling plans to be drawn up and priced. Perfectly positioned: Aotearoa Park REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT » Waipa District Council Lake Karapiro - the home of New Zealand elite rowing. Waipa Mayor Jim Mylchreest points out that with a number of horse studs around Cambridge, the district has long been internationally recognised for producing world-class thoroughbreds, contributing to the region’s GDP. Beef, deer and the emerging industry of dairy goats and sheep also feature in Waipa’s agricultural landscape. “We also have quite a bit of industrial growth going on,” he sayst. “APL which is the aluminium design and fabrica- tion business is a major new development in the Cambridge area and a significant employer. We have a number of industries developing around the airport—which although called Hamilton Airport, is right in our district. “The industrial area around the airport is expe- riencing significant growth and industrial develop- ment. A lot of the growth in Cambridge and around the airport is being driven by the completion of the Expressway around Cambridge, improving access. “In Te Awamutu, besides the dairy company and associated industries we’ve also got Manuka Health—a large Manuka honey processing and apiary business.” Waipa- the home of champions • from page 98 • to page 102