Wellsford coping after factory shutdown

The closure of Irwin Industrial Tools late last year was a tough blow to the town of Wellsford. Photo / Greg Bowker.

Irwin Industrial Tools had been Wellsford's icon and biggest employer, but with the factory abandoned, the town is moving on.

The saw blade factory, based in the small rural community 80 kilometres north of Auckland, finally closed its doors in December after struggling in the recession against competitors from China.

Its staff numbers, at 162, had been about a tenth of the town's population before it laid off 105 workers last March.

The redundancies caused ripples in the community everyone in Wellsford knew somebody at the factory. Businesses braced for a drop in trade, and Wellsford School's principal said at the time he feared the school's roll would sag and the school would lose funding.

But six months later, in October, a Herald investigation found most of the redundant workers had found new jobs.

And two months after the factory closed and 56 workers put out of work, new businesses have opened and many residents are hopeful.

But there are still reasons for concern - with a noticeable number of "For Sale" signs on sections, and help organisations are running at capacity, saying many in the community need help and there have been no new jobs for youth.

"I'm not saying people don't miss it, but they're coping," said Wellsford-based Rodney District Councillor Grahame Powell.

Locals felt no need to dwell on the old factory, Powell said. "Irwin shifted their operations to China why would they?

"People have got on with it. They'd seen it coming for a while and have moved on."

He expected the factory site would be bought for a bargain and turned into something new, said Powell.

Wellsford School principal Dave Bradley said the school had not been impacted like he had feared, losing just four students. "We had only a small number of children leave the school because of the closure. It doesn't mean no-one is struggling, but there was minimal effect on us."

Paul Casci, from La Padella restaurant and bar, said last year that everyone would have to make the best of a bad situation.

Yesterday, he said his restaurant had been doing even better than before the factory closed. "The recession seems to have helped us. Instead of going out of town, people are going local to eat out. It's helped us quite a bit."

Losing the iconic factory meant the town would now focus on being a stopping point for farmers in the area and drivers heading north, said Casci.

But Linda Clapham, from community organisation Te Hana Charitable Trust, said many were hurting and looking for help.

"We really noticed an increase in assistance being requested by whanau, looking for emergency food parcels over the Christmas period. Not only ourselves, but if you ask any community-based organisation they're all facing the same issues."

Christmas was always hard for families, but it had been worse this year with the factory closing, she said.

"It certainly hasn't got any better. It's getting worse. Additional school leavers are heading to the job market, but there have been no new jobs come on to the market since Irwin closed down.

"It's all just lost opportunity and very demoralising for the family. And the young ones, who are 17 or 18 and not able to find a job, get depressed and wonder if there's any thing out there for them."