Wendy's to serve up jobs and burgers

Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers is expected to open in Whangarei next year - and could open elsewhere in Northland in the future.

After much speculation, the burger joint is confirmed to be going in on the site of the old Pizza Hut restaurant on Bank St, more than two years after that restaurant closed.

Wendy's marketing manager Fay Stretch told the Advocate the company was ready to go in Whangarei, and was just waiting on the consent process to move forward.

A resource consent was granted by the Whangarei District Council on July 27, for an application to "establish and operate a restaurant and drive-thru" on the site.

Ms Stretch said from the time a building consent was granted, the restaurant would take about 16 weeks to build, depending on weather and other favourable conditions.

The work was unlikely to go to local contractors, because a Wendy's team built its stores. But it was set to create jobs in the city, which would be advertised several weeks before the store opened, likely to be in the first half of next year.

"We'll be employing about 50 local people, as managers and crew members," Ms Stretch said.

Ms Stretch said it was possible another Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant could open in Northland.

The Pizza Hut restaurant in Whangarei was one of the last operating in New Zealand when it closed in June 2010. The company had chosen to focus on its takeaway outlets instead, one of which remains in Whangarei at 141 Bank St.