Waikato District Council acknowledges interest shown in Ohinewai by makers of Sleepyhead
24 July 2019
Waikato District Council acknowledges the interest shown by The Comfort Group, home of the well-known Kiwi brand Sleepyhead, who intend to create a manufacturing hub in Ohinewai, just north of Huntly.

Comfort Group say the hub will create 1500 new jobs and 1100 new homes over the next decade.

Waikato District Council General Manager Community Growth Clive Morgan says the district continues to be one of the fastest-growing in the country.

“New dwellings consent figures collated by Statistics NZ for the year to December 2018 show this, coupled with the fact that regional unemployment has been lower than the national average for most quarters as collated by Statistics NZ over the past two years.”

Comfort Group has made a submission to the Proposed Waikato District Plan. The submission is seeking the zoning that would allow this development to proceed. As a regulator, Council needs to follow due process and will be hearing from all submitters on the plan review. The hearings are due to start later this year. An independent hearings panel has been appointed by Council and will be hearing all submissions. The independent panel has full delegation to make decisions.

Waikato District Council’s vision is to build ‘liveable, thriving and connected communities’ as its 73,600 population swells by 12,000 in the next 10 years, and up to 103,000 by 2045. Employment opportunities – and building ‘communities not just houses’ – is vital to ensure Waikato District towns don’t become dormitory suburbs that empty out during the day, putting extra pressure on roads and public transport.

Comfort Group has today announced that it has purchased 176-hectares of land, adjoining the existing Ohinewai Village, which it “plans to transform into a mixed-use, planned community of up to 3,000 residents.”

The Comfort Group plans to relocate its two Auckland manufacturing sites over the next few years into a new 100,000m2 modern factory it will build on the site.

ENDS

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