Hamilton’s future secured
29 June 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hamilton is the first city to fully secure a piece of the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, worth $290.4 million.

Hamilton City Council, at yesterday’s Council meeting, approved the HIF loan agreement in principal and delegated authority to Chief Executive Richard Briggs to sign the agreement. This is now a binding agreement.

The Council has secured $290.4M from the HIF - comprising of $180.3M of 10-year interest-free loan and $110.1M of NZ Transport Agency subsidies - for the development of the Peacocke suburb in south Hamilton. This will save the Council around $65M.

The loan and subsidies will enable the Council to build a new bridge over the Waikato River, other main roads and main water and wastewater systems in Peacocke.

To pay the loan back, around 90% will come from Development Contributions and 10% through rates.

Minister for Housing and Urban Development and Transport, Phil Twyford, acknowledged the Peacocke development would be transformational for Hamilton, with the benefits felt for decades to come. He said the development was a great example of how central and local government can work together to address New Zealand’s housing crisis.

Overall the $1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund, which provides interest-free loans to help high growth councils advance infrastructure projects, will enable at least 28,000 new dwellings to be built over the next 10 years.

Hamilton Mayor Andrew King says partnership has been the key to this success.

“We appreciate the continued support from the Government, NZ Transport Agency and the community to get this project over the line. This is a game-changing opportunity which will shape the future of Hamilton. It simply couldn’t have happened without their support,” says Mayor King.

“Peacocke has the long-term space we need, is close to the central city, and can provide broader transport benefits by working in conjunction with other projects including the Southern Links road network.”

“Now the agreement is binding, the Council will hit the ground running and from Monday issue tender documents to start designs for the transport, water and wastewater parts of the project.”

Parekawhia McLean NZ Transport Agency Director of Regional Relationships says: “the Transport Agency has an important role to play in Hamilton’s highway system and local road funding and we are pleased to be involved as a co-investor in getting works under way for the Peacocke urban development.

“We are also partnering with the council in the Wairere Drive connection to SH1-Cobham Drive, with construction to start later this year,” she says.

The HIF was developed by the Government to deliver more houses, faster in high-growth areas around the country.

Peacocke has the capacity for 3750 homes within the next 10 years and 8400 across 30 years.

To achieve the number of houses Hamilton needs, Peacocke will provide the space for majority of the new houses in new suburbs (greenfield) along with development in existing suburb (infill) and in some other new suburbs to a lesser extent (Rotokauri, Rototuna and Ruakura).

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