JOHN BISSET/Stuff
A digger on site at Showgrounds Hill in Timaru where work is set to begin on a 34,000 square metre retail development.
Land for the first stage of the new Showgrounds Hill retail development in Timaru sold for $6.4 million. A spokesman for Timaru District Holdings Ltd, who bought the 12 hectare site for $6.296m in April 2017, told
Stuff that it had netted $6.4m from the sale for the 9.9ha first stage of the project which is due to be completed by mid-2022. The purchase price for the remaining stages of the 34,000 square metre complex remains confidential with stage two set to be completed by mid-2025 and the final stage by mid-2027.
BEJON HASWELL/Stuff
Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon, pictured in Timaru on July 8, 2020, 12 days before his resignation over allegations of sending an indecent image.
A scandal involving former Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon was a dominating feature of July’s news writes Doug Sail, as we continue our series looking back on the year that was. Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon resigned in disgrace in July after it was revealed he had sent an indecent image to a young woman. The 37-year-old National Party MP, elected to Parliament in 2017, announced in a press release on July 20 that he would not be contesting the 2020 General Election, citing a need to maintain his health and wellbeing.
Gapes said the company was working with a number of tenants now it had Countdown and Bunnings finalised. “Most of these will be new to Timaru and we should be able to announce these early next year,” he said. Bunnings New Zealand director Jacqui Coombes said “we’ve been searching for a location that allows us to serve the Timaru community for some time, and we’re pleased to confirm we plan to become a tenant at the development when it’s constructed”. “We expect the store to create more than 80 new team member positions when it opens in 2022.
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However, the spokeswoman said the chain was not ready to confirm a tenancy at the development. “We’ll be in a position to provide you with further details next week,” she said. However, she did say “we have no plans to close or relocate any of our Timaru stores”. None of the other buildings depicted in the consent had identifiable branding, although a picture of the Countdown site shows an adjacent building labelled “pharmacy”.
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A photo posted on the Black and White Coffee Cartel s social media page advertising a franchise opportunity in Timaru. Nationwide coffee chain Black & White Coffee Cartel is advertising a franchise opportunity in Timaru with the address listed as ‘Showground, Evans St’.
John Bisset/Stuff
One of the few big fireworks that worked during the Caroline Bay New Year display early on New Year s Day 2020.
The year began with a fizzer in South Canterbury but it was not Coronavirus/Covid-19 related writes Doug Sail in the first of our series looking back on the year that was – one in which our world changed dramatically. 2020 was just minutes old when thousands gathered at Caroline Bay in Timaru were unknowingly given an early insight of a year ahead which would be full of disappointment through the disruption of everything from events to business and education to health.