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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,
“Everything else pivots off this decision,” Sanson said. The development would be a “game-changer” for the communities of Ōhinewai and Huntly, as well as the whole Waikato region, Sanson said. He expected there would be significant employment opportunities for those living in Huntly, as well as people travelling from Waipā on the expressway, or half an hour away in Paeroa. “It will bring jobs, revitalise the northern Waikato with affordable new housing, and encourage other commercial investment in the area.”
Christel Yardley/Stuff
“The biggest card has been played in favour of the development,” Waikato district mayor Allan Sanson said.