Earthworks for the first stage factory of the Sleepyhead Estate at Ohinewai. Photo / Mike Scott
Earthworks for the first stage factory of the Sleepyhead Estate at Ohinewai. Photo / Mike Scott
The first stage of the $1.2 billion Sleepyhead Estate project could open early next year as the developer forges ahead with the building consent process and earthworks on the massive North Waikato site.
The Auckland Turner family behind Australasia's biggest bed-maker, The Comfort Group, is to build a large manufacturingcentre and up to 1100 new homes on 178ha at Ohinewai.
The company, whose brands include Sleepyhead, Sleepmaker and Dunlop Foams, has outgrown its manufacturing sites in Auckland and wants to provide homes for its staff who cannot afford Auckland house prices.
Director Craig Turner said building consent for the first stage, a foam factory, had been filed with Waikato District Council.
"We are aiming to start commissioning the foam plant in December and expect to be operational early in 2023."
Building consents for the manufacturing part of the big development would be lodged with the council in stages.
The Government's imposition of a red setting under its Covid protection framework was not expected to affect progress unless workers on the site became ill.
Meanwhile, earthworks costing $12 million continue on 35ha of the site, with contractors laying and compacting metal and rock on top of peat soil in a process called pre-loading, which will lower the factory site by 4m.
Project director David Gaze said the site will then be left to compact until geotech experts say it's ready to start building on. The first construction will be of three buildings covering 7ha.
Gaze hopes building can start in April or May.
Sleepyhead Estate project director David Gaze. Photo / Mike Scott
The second stage is construction of the bedding manufacturing complex, which he hoped could start in around nine months.
Although the Comfort Group has won resource consent to rezone the site from its rural classification after opposition from the Waikato Regional Council and NZ Transport Agency, it still requires development approvals from the local district council, including consents for waste and fresh water handling.
Up to 70ha of the total site will be dedicated to industrial/manufacturing, and about 10ha to community amenities including a petrol station, Gaze said. No supermarket is permitted in the development as local authorities want residents of the new community to visit and shop in nearby Huntly, in a bid to transform that town and its economy.
Economic consultants suggest the development will inject $8.5b into the Waikato economy over the next 10 years, create up to 2600 new jobs as well as providing the region with much-needed housing.
Much of the rest of the site will be devoted to housing, 50ha of wetland, running and walking tracks, playing grounds and a community centre and hall, Gaze said.
Earthworks for the first stage factory of the Sleepyhead Estate at Ohinewai. Photo / Mike Scott
The estate lies beside SH1 (Waikato Expressway) and the main rail line allowing the bedding and bed-maker ease of access to any imported materials it requires from Auckland's port, and to export through the Port of Tauranga. A rail siding is part of the site work.
A major exporter, the company employs 1000 people in Auckland and Australia. It has outgrown its aged manufacturing facilities in Avondale and Otahuhu.
Asked how many of its Auckland staff might move south, Turner said until the company had the rezoning confirmed, it had only minimally engaged with its existing workforce in the foam plant on the move.
"But early indications are that our people will look at the opportunity favourably. We will be providing transport for those who don't relocate. We have an excellent workforce so will be working hard to ensure we make the transition work for all."
