Busy time for local builders

The building sector in Wanganui has entered the New Year on a high.

There has been a lift in the number of consents issued in the first month of the year, and at least one company has taken on extra staff.

Data from Statistics New Zealand shows nine Wanganui building consents issued in January 2015 - an increase from the seven in January 2014.

DML Builders & Construction part-owner Jane Corney said the building sector in Wanganui had been thriving.

"It is looking like a good year, which is awesome. We have employed six to eight staff in the past few months so it has been a madhouse," she said.

"We are doing work out at Open Country which is taking a lot of men and we are also doing quite a bit of earthquake strengthening.

"January was also very busy. The company generally tries to have a couple of weeks off around January but we actually had to come back early because we were so busy."

Ms Corney said the summer period was generally busy with jobs from the local schools.

"Sometimes there are lots of school jobs that are happening because they are trying to get stuff done before the kids get back to school so January can be busy for those."