Media Release
For immediate release
2 July 2021
Kawerau District Council continues to support economic development
ONE door may be closing, but others are set to open in the Kawerau District.
It was an end of an era on Tuesday as the last jumbo paper reel rolled off the No.3. Paper Machine at Norske Skog Tasman.
For more than 60 years the paper mill has been a huge contributor to the district, region and nation. There has also been the contribution of the workforce and the people who have served at Tasman and within the Kawerau District Mayor Malcolm Campbell said.
“The impact on our community is our prime concern and we understand some mill employees have already found work with other industries in the Eastern Bay region which is good news.”
However, it has not been a matter of sitting back and waiting to see what happens next.
Kawerau District Council Chief Executive Russell George said, “Kawerau District Council has actively been involved with economic development.”
“We see Kawerau as the future of a green economy with renewable geothermal energy and the process heat available for industry, and there is also the opportunity for hydrogen powered industry.”
During the past decade Council has been working with Iwi, industry and our Eastern Bay neighbours to foster economic development to the district and region.
Kawerau District Council is a founding member, of Industrial Symbiosis Kawerau (ISK), a partnership with Iwi, Kawerau Industries and our Eastern Bay neighbours to develop viable, interconnected businesses and relationships that balance social, environmental and economic drivers.
Outputs of that support include the Pūtauaki Trust Industrial Development, an 80 hectare industrial site where Waiu Dairy has already set up a new dairy processing plant employing some 30 people. Pūtauaki Trust is actively looking for tenants to set up their commercial and industrial businesses on lease land ranging between 4 hectares and 17 hectares.
Currently, Putauaki Trust is just days away from completing a roundabout on the State Highway that links internal roading into their land block.
This commercial zoned land is opposite the proposed Kawerau Container Terminal development, which will reduce carbon emissions by some 16,000 tonnes by sending manufactured goods by rail instead of road.
The Kawerau Container Terminal will service all manufacturing industry in Kawerau and comprises a rail siding and related infrastructure which is currently in the planning and design phases.
In addition, there is the development of an Off-Highway Road which will link the Kawerau Container Terminal to existing industry, the Putauaki Trust industrial area and plantation forests is in the resource consenting phase.
The Kawerau District Council has assisted with the re-zoning of land into the Kawerau District to again assist with efficiency and ease of operations for commercial operators.
The Kawerau District is an attractive proposition for new and existing industry, particularly, with the pressure of urban residential growth in other regions that can affect the viability of industries to remain in situ.
“Kawerau has a lot to offer including available industrial land that is adjacent to rail services and the support of top-class engineering services.”
Another initiative presented to the Kawerau District Council this week involved the installation of a natural gas pipeline that will eventually transition to hydrogen in the future to service engineering support firms to complete work for industry in Kawerau and throughout the country.
Council immediately offered its support for this venture, which will now seek external funding.
“Council has been actively involved in ensuring there is new housing available for the 300 plus jobs that are expected from the economic development by 2030*.”
Three years ago, the Council began a strategy of residential development that gained support from the community in the Long Term Plan 2018-2028 process.
This has transpired into three developments comprising 35 house and land packages and a 29-unit independent retirement village. Despite some delays mainly due to COVID-19, the 31-lot residential development on a former primary school site has now paid for itself, with 10 house and land packages already sold.
Demand for units continues at the Porritt Glade Lifestyle Village, a retirement village for people 60 years plus. Council has now constructed 12 two-bedroom, brickclad units in the gated community – all of which are sold with a licence to occupy and mainly to local Kawerau residents.
The Council is mooting further residential development which have attracted support during the recent Long Term Plan 2021-2031 consultation process.
*EBOP Regional Development Report September 2018
[ENDS]
Media Release
For immediate release 2 July 2021
Kawerau District Council continues to support economic development
ONE door may be closing, but others are set to open in the Kawerau District.
It was an end of an era on Tuesday as the last jumbo paper reel rolled off the No.3. Paper Machine at Norske Skog Tasman.
For more than 60 years the paper mill has been a huge contributor to the district, region and nation. There has also been the contribution of the workforce and the people who have served at Tasman and within the Kawerau District Mayor Malcolm Campbell said.
“The impact on our community is our prime concern and we understand some mill employees have already found work with other industries in the Eastern Bay region which is good news.”
However, it has not been a matter of sitting back and waiting to see what happens next.
Kawerau District Council Chief Executive Russell George said, “Kawerau District Council has actively been involved with economic development.”
“We see Kawerau as the future of a green economy with renewable geothermal energy and the process heat available for industry, and there is also the opportunity for hydrogen powered industry.”
During the past decade Council has been working with Iwi, industry and our Eastern Bay neighbours to foster economic development to the district and region.
Kawerau District Council is a founding member, of Industrial Symbiosis Kawerau (ISK), a partnership with Iwi, Kawerau Industries and our Eastern Bay neighbours to develop viable, interconnected businesses and relationships that balance social, environmental and economic drivers.
Outputs of that support include the Pūtauaki Trust Industrial Development, an 80 hectare industrial site where Waiu Dairy has already set up a new dairy processing plant employing some 30 people. Pūtauaki Trust is actively looking for tenants to set up their commercial and industrial businesses on lease land ranging between 4 hectares and 17 hectares.
Currently, Putauaki Trust is just days away from completing a roundabout on the State Highway that links internal roading into their land block.
This commercial zoned land is opposite the proposed Kawerau Container Terminal development, which will reduce carbon emissions by some 16,000 tonnes by sending manufactured goods by rail instead of road.
The Kawerau Container Terminal will service all manufacturing industry in Kawerau and comprises a rail siding and related infrastructure which is currently in the planning and design phases.
In addition, there is the development of an Off-Highway Road which will link the Kawerau Container Terminal to existing industry, the Putauaki Trust industrial area and plantation forests is in the resource consenting phase.
The Kawerau District Council has assisted with the re-zoning of land into the Kawerau District to again assist with efficiency and ease of operations for commercial operators.
The Kawerau District is an attractive proposition for new and existing industry, particularly, with the pressure of urban residential growth in other regions that can affect the viability of industries to remain in situ.
“Kawerau has a lot to offer including available industrial land that is adjacent to rail services and the support of top-class engineering services.”
Another initiative presented to the Kawerau District Council this week involved the installation of a natural gas pipeline that will eventually transition to hydrogen in the future to service engineering support firms to complete work for industry in Kawerau and throughout the country.
Council immediately offered its support for this venture, which will now seek external funding.
“Council has been actively involved in ensuring there is new housing available for the 300 plus jobs that are expected from the economic development by 2030*.”
Three years ago, the Council began a strategy of residential development that gained support from the community in the Long Term Plan 2018-2028 process.
This has transpired into three developments comprising 35 house and land packages and a 29-unit independent retirement village. Despite some delays mainly due to COVID-19, the 31-lot residential development on a former primary school site has now paid for itself, with 10 house and land packages already sold.
Demand for units continues at the Porritt Glade Lifestyle Village, a retirement village for people 60 years plus. Council has now constructed 12 two-bedroom, brickclad units in the gated community – all of which are sold with a licence to occupy and mainly to local Kawerau residents.
The Council is mooting further residential development which have attracted support during the recent Long Term Plan 2021-2031 consultation process.
*EBOP Regional Development Report September 2018
[ENDS]