Hautapu’s industrial area is seeing booming growth. Photo / Waipa District Council
Hautapu’s industrial area is seeing booming growth. Photo / Waipa District Council
More than $100m is being poured into Hautapu in a bid to capitalise on its Golden Triangle location.
There’s booming industrial growth in the area - including a Mainfreight depot and a sizeable joinery factory - which Waipā District Council wants to continue.
Six projects that range from a newroundabout to a stormwater basin are being rolled into one build, largely funded by development contributions.
Hautapu - located between Hamilton and Cambridge - is “gold in the golden triangle”, Waipā Mayor Mike Pettit quipped.
Waipā District Council principal engineer - growth Tony Coutts, left, and Mayor Mike Pettit are confident they’ll get a return on investment. Photo / Mark Taylor
“I mean, from an industrial point of view having access to an expressway just literally minutes from your business... look at Mainfreight you know, those guys didn’t come by accident, they came here directly because of the link.”
“If we don’t lead it, someone will come and cut your lunch. If you don’t provide it they’ll go somewhere else and we’re quite happy for them to come.”
The upgrade programme rests under the council’s long-term plan. It includes a new roundabout on the State Highway 1B/Hautapu Rd intersection, a stormwater basin at the end of Alwill Dr, a reticulated wastewater network and traffic lights on Hautapu Rd and Allwill Dr.
Pettit said he expected Hautapu to be a “key industrial node moving forward”, adding the growth in the area is what was expected in 2035.
Ongoing construction in Hautapu is a constant. Photo / Mark Taylor
The driving factor behind the upgrades is getting them up to an “urban standard”, Coutts said, referring to the planned greenfield growth as well as existing brownfield infrastructure.
He added major projects recently developed, such as an APL aluminium joinery factory, helped create the demand and push forward for further investment.
Unifying the projects was a strong emphasis for council, Pettit said, as it provides the industrial precinct certainty of what will be delivered.
The first construction to break ground will be for the stormwater basin, beginning in July.
The roundabout’s construction will begin in August next year.
