A huge leap forward for Ngāwhā Innovation and Enterprise Park

Olivado chief executive Gary Hannam (right) explaining to Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash the process of extracting methane for vehicle fuel from avocado and dairy waste at the Ngāwhā Innovation and Enterprise Park. Photo / Peter Heath

Ngāwhā Innovation and Enterprise Park took a huge leap forward on Tuesday with the announcement that the developer, Far North Holdings, had enough confirmed business occupants to make the park viable, along with approval of $19.5 million from the government's Provincial Development Unit for the building of infrastructure such as roads, site works, drainage and water storage.

Five cornerstone occupants in Stage 1 of the park's development will invest an additional $40 million to establish themselves there, creating about 150 jobs and equipping about 100 people a year with high-value, transferable skills.

They included Kaikohe Berryfruit Ltd and Kerikeri-based Olivado, others being involved in food and beverage processing and manufacturing. Education and training providers will offer courses there, including trades training to build prefabricated, low-cost community and social housing.

The goals of the park are to generate employment opportunities in the Kaikohe area, to boost the productivity and GDP of the district and the region, to encourage and enable the use of Māori land for the benefit of iwi and hapū, and to protect land and water resources.

Far North Holdings and mana whenua Ngāti Rangi have spent more than two years working with regional economic development agency Northland Inc, government agencies, iwi, sector and economic development specialists, engineers, architects and planning experts to develop the business case for the park, and a masterplan designed to provide as much of a 'closed loop' manufacturing system as possible.

That involves tenants using the innovations and unwanted by-products of other businesses on the site, and will help avoid additional demand on already-stretched community services such as potable water, raw water, waste-water treatment and waste management services. For example, Olivado's biogas facility will process waste streams from horticulture and food manufacturing to provide biomethane gas, an LPG substitute, to other businesses, and fertiliser to the horticulture business.

The park is designed to collect as much water as possible, and grey water will be treated on-site. Water for the park's tenants will be supplemented by the Matawii dam, which is to be built nearby by Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust.

Far North Holdings and Northland Inc have focused on securing interest in the park from businesses and enterprises that are expanding or new to the district, and that will offer new jobs to local people who are currently unemployed, guided by a set of shared values developed with Ngāti Rangi hapū.

Ngāti Rangi spokesperson Liliana Clarke said the hapū had been involved in the development of the park since its inception.

"Our hapū is entrusted to protect Ngāti Rangi's environs and attuned to the pursuit of kaitiakitanga, for a thriving and healthy environment that enhances our quality of life for present and future generations," she said.

"We are proactive in all aspects of the park development, and have had significant input at all levels, particularly around cultural and environmental monitoring, management and enhancement. Our role is to uphold the legacy of our ancestors in the protection and enhancement of Ngāti Rangi from the mountains to the sea for future generations - Te Mana Motuhake o Ngāti Rangi."

Far North Holdings chief executive Andy Nock said the park needed to provide something unique to attract the interest of businesses to a region where the company and Ngāti Rangi were attempting to build an ecosystem for business growth "from scratch."

They were doing that by providing a physical location for research and development agencies, on-site, bespoke training, and by taking an environmentally responsible approach to the development via its closed loop aspirations. Those were central attractions for the businesses interested in locating in Stage 1.

An innovation and education centre would provide office accommodation for businesses, and laboratory and work space for research and development providers to collaborate with each other and for businesses to grow the level of innovation in the region. It would also contain state-of-the-art communication technology, conference and education facilities, so occupants could collaborate remotely with other businesses and centres of expertise outside the region, and deliver on-site and on-the-job education and training.

Growing and manufacturing space had also been set aside for research with land owners and producers to trial higher-value crops and to add value to their production.

Northland Inc would staff the innovation and education centre, and provide support to businesses based there and elsewhere across the Mid and Far North. Staff would include a skills and employment co-ordinator, employed by Northland Inc and funded initially by the Ministry of Social Development, who would match the skills needs of tenants with those seeking work and facilitate employment support, including pastoral care and on-site training.

"We're committed to ensuring local people can be trained to fill the positions available, at all levels, and employers at the park can access the skilled workforce they need," Northland Inc chief executive Murray Reade said.

A business activator would also be employed to bring more tenants to the park, who would fill unallocated sites in Stage 1 and new sites in Stages 2 and 3. The Ministry of Social Development was providing initial funding for that role as well, which was seen as an important part of expediting and increasing employment outcomes for the district.

"The 'closed loop' concept is central to the strategy behind the park," Nock added.

"It's important to establish a set of symbiotic relationships, where businesses feed and grow off each other, reducing as far as possible the waste leaving the park, which also lowers their costs. It's about building a self-sustaining network within the park that gives other businesses a reason to establish themselves here.

"The role of the business activator will be central to this."

Page 16 - Big plans for berries and avocado oil