Rotorua building consents total $29.2 million in last three months

Te Puia kiwi house is being upgraded. Photo / Stephen Parker

A new $1.3 million state-of-the-art kiwi house at Te Puia forms part of the $29.2m worth of building consents issued in the past three months.

The total figure is up $2.4m compared with the same period last year.

The recent jump can be attributed to an almost $5m increase in residential consents for the period from May 1 through to July 31.

In the three months, 281 residential consents were issued worth $16.2m compared with 310 residential consents worth $11.4m for the same period last year.

A total of 34 commercial consents totalling $13m were made in the three-month period this year compared with 70 commercial consents worth $15.4m last year.

Last month there was a 23.5 per cent decrease in commercial consents, from 19 consents valued at $5.5m in July 2017 to 13 consents worth $4.3m in 2018, but a 61.3 per cent increase in residential consents for the same period.

In July 2017, 84 consents were issued to a value of $3.3m while in July 2018, 80 consents valued at $5.2m were issued.

Last month one of the largest single consents was for a new kiwi house at Te Puia. Issued to the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, the work was valued at $1.3m.

Te Puia chief executive Tim Cossar said the kiwi project was part of a bigger project going on at the tourist attraction.

"We've built the new wananga which was a $16m to $17m build, and the new wharekai that came with a $9m cost, and now we're starting on the kiwi house," Cossar said.

"Basically the building where the kiwi are housed, where we hold and rear the birds for release as part of the national kiwi recovery programme, had become a bit dilapidated.

"Our kiwi experience is very important, for some visitors it may be the only time in their life they get to see a live kiwi. For the visitors, staff and most of all for the birds, we wanted to have a state-of-the-art facility to house them in.

"It is also part of our commitment to keep investing in Te Puia."

In June building consents issued to Te Papa Tipu totalled $2.6m. The work is part of Scion's campus redevelopment announced last year.

Scion chief executive Dr Julian Elder said the redevelopment included renovations of existing working spaces and construction of an innovation hub for forestry, manufacturing and energy innovation, and some public interaction.

"The hub will support district and regional economic development, and spill over to some national benefits, and is currently in final design phase. For Te Papa Tipu Innovation Park tenants, the campus redevelopment will provide shared spaces for growing businesses, opportunities for industry to collaborate and co-innovate, testing facilities, laboratories and modern fit-for-purpose working spaces for staff."

The three-year development is the largest at Scion for many years.