Kaingaroa Village: From heaven to hell and back again.
A community centre and connecting road expected to take big trucks off local roads were opened in the Bay of Plenty by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones on Friday.
Jones said in a statement that the new centre in Kaingaroa Village and road in Kawerau would “streamline industry in the region”.
“Both of these projects are part of wider development packages helping to re-energise these communities, boost regional pride and increase economic growth,” he said.
Jones attended a ceremony to open the new Kaingaroa Community Centre, the final milestone in the $11.1 million Kaingaroa Community Development Project supported by $7.2m in regional development funding. Kaingaroa is a forestry village southeast of Rotorua.
Te Puni Kōkiri - Ministry of Māori Development, Te Tumu Paeroa (Office of the Māori Trustee), and the Ministry of Health together contributed $3.9m, and local business K.L.C. Ltd, which manufactures and distributes timber products, also gave funding.
The community centre will house a medical centre with a kaumātua and rangatahi space, meeting and training rooms, and a digital hub to improve internet access and connectivity in the community.
“As Kaingaroa residents know, decades of inadequate funding and maintenance meant infrastructure investment was greatly needed for the revitalisation of the village.
“The completion of the project enables the community to realise its aspirations to grow and thrive,” Jones said.
The development project created 306 full-time-equivalent jobs during construction, many held by Kaingaroa residents.
He Ira Kāhui Anamata (HIKA) Trust, a Māori-owned business, was the main contractor for building the centre.
The Rotorua Daily Post reported on Thursday that Kaingaroa Village had been without water since Monday after its main water bore stopped working, leaving many of its 450 residents without clean running water.
Fire chief and village councillor Kenneth Austin confirmed to the Rotorua Daily Post on Friday a new bore had been installed and water was back on.
New road connects industrial park to forestry road
Jones also opened the Kawerau Off-Highway Rd connecting Kawerau Industrial Park to a private forestry road, removing big trucks from local roads and “providing efficient connectivity between the Putauaki Industrial Park and a planned container rail terminal”, his statement said.
The project received $2.8m Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding, and $785,000 from Kawerau-based Sequal Lumber Ltd.
The 1.6km road off State Highway 34 marked a milestone for the Kawerau Putauaki Industrial Development package, which received $19.9m through the PGF and attracted $4.1m co-investment, Jones said.
“This opening is the result of partnering with Māori landowners, Kawerau District Council, local businesses and the community to support growth for the town.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones.
“The broader Kawerau Putauaki Industrial Development package is providing cost-effective roading and industrial solutions for established industries in Kawerau, and, once completed, will attract new industries and further private sector investment.”
Jones also attended the launch of a refreshed regional economic development strategy developed by Toi EDA, the economic development agency for Eastern Bay of Plenty.
“These collaborative regional strategies are at the heart of what we need for prioritising further regional development investments.
“I hope to see more projects like these being funded through the new Regional Infrastructure Fund, which I launched on July 1.”
Prior statements said councils, iwi, businesses and community organisations with infrastructure projects that supported regional priorities could apply to the fund.
The fund was $1.2 billion over three years, with an initial $200 million committed in Budget 2024 to flood resilience infrastructure, including in Bay of Plenty. Primarily a capital fund, it would provide support through a mix of loan and equity investments and grants only in limited cases.
