Zion People Church Te Awamutu: Former church site cleared for housing project

The former Zion church building in Te Awamutu is being demolished to make way for affordable homes. Photo / Jesse Wood

Bulldozers moved in on Te Awamutu’s old Zion People Church this week.

The demolition work is underway at the site on Racecourse Rd to make way for affordable housing.

The housing project, run by the Zion People in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, is set to include various-sized townhouses that would be offered in a mixture of tenure types, including ownership and rental.

Zion pastor Phil Strong told the Te Awamutu Courier in 2022 that the church had embraced an opportunity to repurpose its 8095sqm of land to serve the housing needs in the community while realising an aspiration to “build community”.

The congregation moved to their new meeting place at 38 Churchill St some time ago.

Zion’s old church building is being demolished with a high percentage of materials to be sent to various recycling centres to minimise landfill waste.

The former Zion church building on Racecourse Rd, Te Awamutu being demolished to make way for 40 new affordable homes. This project by Zion is in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Photo / Jesse Wood

The smaller auxiliary building, the old Rosetown Counselling Centre, has been sold and will be relocated to be used for Christian ministry purposes in North Waikato.

Strong says project planning for the social housing development is under way with due diligence being completed around market demand for social housing, funding options and construction costs.

“A project this size takes a lot of planning, and we are grateful for the wisdom and experience of our partners, Habitat for Humanity, who are undertaking this work,” Strong says.

“At this stage, we can’t see construction commencing in 2024, but we hope to see civil and foundational work beginning in the first half of 2025.”

Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.

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