Kerikeri Old Packhouse Market: Community campaign to raise $7m starts

Di Maxwell [left] hopes the community will get behind the community initiative to buy The Old Packhouse Market from Warrick and Judy Hyland. Photo / Jenny Ling

A bold plan to save one of Northland’s most iconic community assets from development has been ramped up another notch.

The Far North Resilient Communities Charitable Trust [FNRCCT] has kicked off a fundraising campaign to buy the much-loved Old Packhouse Market in Kerikeri, which was listed for sale in May 2024.

Owned by Judy and Warrick Hyland for more than 10 years, the market is a significant part of the wider Bay of Islands economy, one of the town’s biggest weekend shopping and social events, and a popular visitor attraction.

At a community meeting at the Kerikeri Rd site yesterday the trust announced it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with the Hylands.

The agreement comes with a one-year settlement, meaning the community has 12 months to raise the $7m needed to secure the property into community ownership.

FNRCCT project lead Di Maxwell hoped everyone would “get in behind us”.

“It’s one of the icons in Kerikeri.

“It’s a major tourist attraction with people that visit the market, and it supports 155 people with their income.

“A lot of these people have indicated if they didn’t have the market to sell their produce and products at, their business would have to close.

“If we don’t raise the money we’ll have to pull out and it’s likely to be sold for development.”

The Hylands established the Saturday market specialising in Northland-made and grown crafts and produce in 2014.

Several years later they introduced the Sunday market, then a Friday night market with live music and some of the region’s best street food.

There are now more than 150 stallholders, 26 people are employed in the cafe, bakery and butchery, and the weekend markets attract thousands of regular customers.

The Hylands listed the market for sale, along with the cafe, bakery and butchery, 5.6ha, two houses, and buildings spanning over 2000sq m, to spend more time with family.

Only the land and buildings are included in the sale and purchase agreement, as Judy plans to keep running the market and cafe businesses.

“When Judy’s had enough, we’ll step up and ensure it continues running,” Maxwell said.

The Old Packhouse Market is a social hub for the community and an important part of the local economy.

Judy said she supported the property being retained as a community asset.

“To have a property here so close to town ... to be used for the good of the community is not something that other towns have.

“The fact they want to keep it in perpetuity would be much better for the community than being sold to a developer in another 10 years.”

FNRCCT is a registered charitable trust established to protect community assets and support long-term social and economic resilience in the Far North.

Maxwell said she was confident the funds could be raised.

The trust had undertaken nine months of “intense” due diligence with help from a $20,000 Tai Tokerau impact grant from Northland Inc, she said.

Economic impact analysis showed the market supports around $7.4m a year in direct economic activity and up to 155 jobs.

A tourism impact report is underway to further assess its wider contribution to the Far North economy, she said.

“We’ve undertaken comprehensive due diligence, developed detailed business plans, completed governance structures, and carefully mapped what could be added once a purchase is complete, all before asking the community to step forward.”

If the money can’t be raised, smaller donations will be diverted into another local resilience project, and larger donors will be contacted to discuss options, including a refund.

“We’re reasonably confident otherwise we wouldn’t even bother starting,” Maxwell said.

“We’ve got to give it our best shot.

“One thing is for sure, if the community doesn’t step up it won’t happen.”

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.