New supermarket for Rotorua

New supermarket development on Te Ngae Rd. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

A new FreshChoice supermarket is being built in Rotorua's eastside.

Work is underway at the site on Te Ngae Rd after the land owners were granted resource consent to build a supermarket and drive-through fast food restaurant on the site.

It is owned by PNB Holdings Ltd whose co-owner Wayne Parry said it bought the site, near the intersection with Wharenui Rd, several years ago. He said the shelving of the proposed Rotorua Eastern Arterial roading project had allowed it to move forward.

"We couldn't really get a good tenant to come on-site until they had made that decision [to scrap the Arterial]."

The new resource consent allows for a 1175sq m supermarket and a 250 sq m fast food restaurant.

The proposals also include a 65-vehicle carpark.

A spokesman for Progressive Enterprises Ltd, which operates FreshChoice, confirmed the supermarket was planned for the site.

However details around opening dates and job numbers weren't available yesterday.

According to the resource consent the FreshChoice supermarket is set to operate seven days a week between 7am and 10pm. The restaurant will be open 24 hours a day seven days a week although a branding for the restaurant had not been made.

In the resource consent decision, Rotorua Lakes Council senior planner Simon Bell said the site had been vacant for a number of years and was in a pocket of commercial land in a well-established residential zone.

It found the effect of the proposal on the vibrancy and vitality of Rotorua's CBD was considered to be "negligible".

"The Rotorua CBD does not currently contain any supermarkets or drive-through fast food activities."

In the decision, Mr Bell said the proposal was likely to affect individual convenience retailers in the community centres such as the Te Ngae Shopping Centre and Owhata Shops.

"However the effect is limited to trade competition between individual stores and will not adversely affect the vitality or vibrancy of either of these community centres as a whole."

In the application the developers said they believed the proposed supermarket and restaurant development would contribute positively to the ongoing growth of the eastern Rotorua urban area, and provide a valuable retail option for residents.

According to its website, FreshChoice has 24 stores around the country, all of which are locally owned and operated.