An artist's impression of what the Rangiuru Business Park may look like.
There's not much to see yet, but six months since the start of work, there is building excitement about the impact Rangiuru Business Park will have on the local economy.
Work began on the first phase of the development following a blessing of the site in October last year.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council's specialist investment arm Quayside Holdings is behind the development, which is located east of Te Puke.
"Rangiuru Business Park has entered into an exciting phase,'' says CEO Scott Hamilton.
''Six months on from the start of earthworks and the landform is coming together on Stage 1a. We are on track to meet our milestone for release of Stage 1a titles late 2023 or early 2024.
"Interest has been strong from the marketplace, which reiterates the importance of providing modern, quality industrial land for regional development – something that we are proud to be part of."
Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber has been a strong advocate for development of the business park.
''It's incredibly gratifying that we are seeing real progress on the development of this facility which is desperately required not only for our sub-region, but for the Bay of Plenty as a whole, to support the Port of Tauranga.
''We are hopeful that everything works according to the timetable so we can deliver this on time and effectively.''
He says from outside the site, the amount of work that has been done isn't obvious.
''You don't see it from the road, but once you get up a little way, and you don't have to get up too high, you can see there's an awful lot of work happening in there.''
A major piece of the puzzle was added to the overall picture in October 2020 when $18 million from the Provincial Growth Fund was provided for construction of the interchange with the Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL).
''We were fortunate that the Government stepped in and gave us that funding because that was the seed money that was required to convince everybody else that it was time to go.''
Te Puke Economic Development Group managing director Mark Boyle says he is delighted the project is now ''well and truly under way''.
''The demand for industrial land is increasing and there are some exciting opportunities for new people to locate to the business park once the first land becomes available within the next 24 months. This will be a huge economic boost to Te Puke.''
He says the location of the business park with easy access to Tauranga, Rotorua, Whakatāne and the Port of Tauranga makes it significant to the wider Bay of Plenty.
Mark envisages a diverse range of industries being attracted to the park, including food-related businesses, logistics, distribution and manufacture.
Mark Hatchman, who is project-managing the development for Quayside Holdings with Mike Horsley, says work so far has gone pretty smoothly.
While billboards are about to go up alongside the TEL advertising the development, one of the first visible areas of construction will be of the interchange giving vehicles access to the park from the TEL. The site will largely close down for winter in May, but work on the interchange is likely to begin in the spring, he says.
''There's been a whole lot of design work in the background - the civil design, the roads, the interchange design has been progressing, and the design of the wastewater line back to Te Puke,'' says Mark.
There has also been significant work on the design of a stormwater pond to be constructed on the opposite side of the TEL.
''We are working with the designers to model and understand the implications of that.
''We're also about to start a whole lot of work with (local iwi) Tapuika looking at landscaping and plants - but that's very early doors at the moment.''
Mark says while it is a commercial development, there will be other benefits.
''One of the key things we are trying to do, while we want to produce land and make some money along the way, we are really trying to look at some other opportunities as well to try and leverage off the development to get some community benefits.''
Quayside have now engaged a senior Māori adviser, Rawiri Waru.
''He will help guide us through this journey making sure we do all the right things at the right time and observe all the protocols,'' says Quayside's corporate services manager Mel Manley.
Stage 1a covers around 15ha of land.
''We haven't pre-sold any of it,'' says Mark. ''That's not a reflection of interest or enquiries - there's been really strong interest - we are just really focused on getting good outcomes. We really want to make sure we get good outcomes in the first stage so we want employment and we want regional growth and we are trying to gather the interest, making sure we get good design outcomes as well. We just want to make sure we maximise the opportunity of this development''.
Mel says the first stage will set the tone for the park.
''That's why we are being very careful about who we engage with and where we are with that piece of land.''
The message is, it's about quality: a quality partnership, a quality build, and it's about being connected - not only connected from a transport perspective, but connected to the community.
She says interest has come from across Australasia.
The 148ha site is the largest greenfield consented industrial zone in the Bay of Plenty.
There will be four stages of development, each of around 35ha.
Time line
2004 - first, 83ha, parcel of land bought
2006 - Land rezoned to industrial
2015 - Tauranga Eastern Link completed.
2016 - potable water consent
2020 - Provincial Growth Fund funding of $18 million announced
2021 - works commence
The jury's marathon deliberations ran for two weeks.