Monday, 24 May 2021, 12:00 pm
Independent commissioners have
given the green light for the company behind well-known Kiwi
brand Sleepyhead to develop a $1 billion manufacturing and
housing community on its 178-hectare rural site in Ohinewai,
north Waikato.
The proposed development by Comfort
Group, and its property arm Ambury Properties Ltd, will
include industrial, commercial, and residential zones. It
intends on developing a master planned mixed-use community
over the next 10 years with 1100 homes for up to 3,000
residents, and a new factory creating up to 2600 new
jobs.
The decision on the company’s rezoning
submission on the Proposed Waikato District Plan has been
under deliberation since hearings in September last year,
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
This 756sqm section on Hamilton s River Road is on the market for $1,050,000. In the distance is the Pukete Bridge.
Hamilton s housing crunch is worsening, as the number of sections for sale across the city slips into single figures. Only eight bare residential sections are for sale in a city made up of 60,000 lots or sections. The figure excludes house and land packages. The stark number, collated by Hamilton City Council staff, has prompted renewed debate among city politicians about how best to open up more land for housing without accruing crippling city debt. Veteran city councillor Dave Macpherson said feedback from one major developer indicates the development community are willing to play a much bigger role in the delivery of infrastructure and planning.