Waikato Business News November/December 2019

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS November/December 2019
25
Te Awa Lakes – the bottom line
The Te Awa Lakes development near
Horotiu is on the brink of becoming a reality.
Funded by Perry Group,
the proposed 62-hectare
community hub promises
to provide residential, retail
and tourism opportunities all in
one location - from an adventure
park and bike trails, to eateries,
visitor accommodation
and shopping.
There is no doubt in my
mind that Te Awa Lakes will
have a positive economic
impact on Hamilton City and
the greater Waikato community.
And the good news is,
ratepayers won’t have to foot
the bill.
Affordable Housing
The recent Waikato Housing
Initiative – 2018 Housing
Stocktake showed that Waikato
needs 51,000 more houses in
the next 25 years. We already
have a shortfall of 7500, with
4500 of those in Hamilton
alone.
Te Awa Lakes includes a
housing solution of more than
1000 homes, with 10 percent of
these dwellings being affordable
housing.
Perry Group’s five-year, billion-dollar
investment will play
a significant role in helping
Hamilton address its housing
needs, in terms of supply and
affordability.
Access to jobs
Nearly 20 percent of Hamilton’s
87,400 jobs are located in
the Te Rapa area with another
4060 nearby in Rotokauri,
Burbush, Horotiu, or Te Rapa
North.
And we don’t expect
employment growth in these
areas to slow down any time
soon.
Better access to employment
will make Te Awa Lakes
an attractive place to live. Jobs
in Te Rapa and neighbouring
areas will become a viable
alternative for more people.
Tourism value
Te Awa Lakes will be a valuable
addition to Waikato’s tourism
offering.
The location of Te Awa
Lakes lends itself to being a
gateway to Hamilton and North
Waikato. It also creates compelling
reasons for people to
visit, and potentially stay the
night, which will drive visitor
spending.
Te Awa Lakes’ proposed
Adventure Park, together with
its accommodation, hospitality
and retail infrastructure, goes
a long way to delivering on
the 2016 Hamilton & Waikato
Tourism Opportunities Plan to
increase the value of tourism to
our region.
Food and beverage outlets
and visitor accommodation at
Te Awa Lakes and in neighbouring
areas stand to benefit
from thousands of additional
DRIVING DEVELOPMENT
> BY MICHAEL BASSETT-FOSS
visitor nights to Hamilton,
which is predicted to bring
greater tourism spending with
retailers, restaurants, tourism
operators and other businesses
throughout the region.
With tourism growing and
new business relocating to
Hamilton, the shortage of hotel
rooms and visitor accommodation
is becoming increasingly
evident.
Hamilton is attracting major
events to Waikato, but a lack of
hotel rooms is causing the city
to lose out on business conferences
and big-ticket festivals.
Hamilton is fast becoming
a hub for larger scale events
such as the World Rugby Sevens,
with more international
and domestic visitors staying in
Hamilton.
Te Awa Lakes could help
provide a solution to this lack
of large-scale, quality commercial
accommodation.
As this article went to print,
Hamilton City Council hearings
for Proposed Plan Change
2 - Te Awa Lakes Private Plan
Change were about to get
underway. I have confidence in
the economic benefits this project
could potentially deliver to
Waikato. I invite you to join me
and lend your support.
Chief executive, Te Waka: Waikato’s economic development agency
Finding the right ECE
Choosing a childcare centre
is among the hardest
decisions a parent can
make when returning to work
after having a baby.
Kym Gibson, general manager
of Creators Educational
Trust, empathises.
Gibson, a mother of one,
says there are a lot of good
early childcare centres in Hamilton,
and people should take
their time to find one that is
right for them and their family.
“It’s important to find a
place that you connect with. It’s
a process. Take time to visit,
talk to staff and ask questions.”
It’s a process many working
parents face, with almost twothirds
(64 percent) of children
under four attending a licensed
ECE service in 2018, according
to Ministry of Education data.
Gibson says most ECE
teachers in Waikato do a fantastic
job for children and families,
offering learning environments
and experiences where
creativity and play is encouraged.
Creators Educational Trust
has three childcare centres
at Forest Lake, Grandview
and Te Awamutu, as well as a
nationwide network of homebased
early childcare educators
through its Creators@Home
service.
It was one of the first centres
in Hamilton to offer a weekly
forest school programme in
2015.
Creators Forest Lake centre
manager Phylicia Tan says
the forest school programme
is still popular today with their
children. Kindergarten kids
do a nature excursion every
Thursday, and the toddlers on
Fridays.
Gibson says when choosing
a centre, the staff are probably
the most important thing for
parents to consider.
“It’s about the relationships
you develop, because our
teachers become part of your
extended family. Connecting
with our whānau and community
is important to us. We host
regular events that bring everyone
together.”
The centre recently held an
evening for whānau showcasing
the children’s learning and
art, including pottery, watercolour
painting, sculpture and
The centre recently held an evening
showcasing the children’s learning and art.
jewellery making. It was based
off the organisation’s learning
inquiry focus for the year,
‘Kind Heart. Fierce Mind.
Brave Spirit.’
The vast majority (80-90
percent) of Creators’ teachers
are degree-qualified, higher
than average (57 percent of
ECE teachers were qualified in
2018 according to Ministry of
Education figures)
1050 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton - 07 839 0777 - 0800 647 726 - sales@jwn.co.nz
Matt 027 231 4378, Andrei 022 637 4174, Melody 022 343 1375
16 Huiputea Drive, Otorohanga. 07 873 8066 - merv@jwn.co.nz