Cordon Bleu picks Martinborough

Martinborough can officially toast to teaching after being named the New Zealand home of the internationally-acclaimed cooking school Le Cordon Bleu this week.
UCOL confirmed yesterday it has purchased a block of land on Kitchener Street and will be consulting the owners of neighbouring properties and other interested parties before embarking on the resource consents process in coming weeks.
The land, currently a functioning vineyard, is situated opposite Nga Waka Vineyard at the main entrance to the town.
Last year the Government declared they would give $2 million to Wairarapa for a fine wine and cuisine regional initiative, of which the school will receive the lion's share.
Around the same time Le Cordon Bleu signed on to partner UCOL in offering the International School of Cuisine in New Zealand and the site makes it the group's first rural campus in the world.
The announcement comes after months of intense lobbying from Wairarapa townships to host the school, with Masterton and Martinborough noted as the chief contenders.
UCOL general manger of strategic projects, Fiona Chard, said the decision to base the school in Martinborough was made easier because of the town's reputation for fine wine and food.
"The key factor really was that Martinborough is already established internationally and nationally as a region renowned for its hospitality and particularly its wine, so it made perfect sense to locate the school amidst that environment," she said.
"Obviously there's still a long way to go before our vision becomes a reality but this is another big step in the right direction and we're looking forward to entering that next phase."
South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples, who has been quoted as saying she would jump about waving a flag in pink and orange polka-dot pyjamas if it would attract the school to her district, described the announcement as tremendous.
"UCOL gave us the whisper last week and so we had to sit tight on it until they'd made it public, which we of course did.
"It was the least we could do," she said.
"It's the biggest thing I think that could happen for the town, and the district, provided it all goes ahead without a hiccup of course."
Scheduled to open in late 2008 or early 2009, the school could have up to 300 students on campus.
Martinborough Hotel owner Mike Laven said the trainees would provide a massive boost for the local population and the economy as a whole.
"Cordon Bleu have a lot of schools around the world so if the local wine and food producers play their cards right they've got a fantastic opportunity to promote themselves on the international arena," he said.
"Most people expected it would end up here, Martinborough is the obvious place to have it but it was a matter of where it was going to be.
"It's all that anyone's been talking about the past few months."
UCOL is currently working with Wellington-based architectural firm Architecture Workshop on a concept design for the site and have signalled their intent to construct a facility that fits with the natural landscape.
South Wairarapa District Council chief executive Griff Page said the resource consent process could often take a lot of time and so he "wasn't jumping for joy just yet".
"It's obviously a very positive thing for the community as a whole and we will now begin working through the consents and building issues, which hopefully will go smoothly."
Le Cordon Bleu runs 26 international cuisine schools in 15 countries and the Wairarapa version will offer internationally recognised qualifications in both diploma and three-year degree courses.
President and chief executive Andre Cointreau is expected to visit the region in person some time in June.