Covid halts the New World

JULIA WADE

06 Nov, 2021

After the scaffolding and panels were first raised in August this year for the area’s long-awaited supermarket at Mangawhai Central (MC), the site along Molesworth Drive appears to have come to a standstill with the New World building exhibiting only a few standing walls.

In 2019, property development company, Viranda Partners, had stated the supermarket should be ready to open in time for the 2021 summer holiday season. Unsurprisingly the pandemic has put a pause in the project’s activity, and a MDL Civil spokesperson, the construction firm project-managing the massive MC development, says ‘hopefully we will be able to provide a more solid update once we have more certainty about what will happen with the regional boundary post-Christmas’.

Australian company Lanskey Construction is in charge of the supermarket build and NZ manager Colm O’Reilly confirms the project has been ‘delayed solely’ from Covid’s shifting alert levels, from the initial Level 4 lockdown, with Level 3 affecting product manufacture in Auckland, and ongoing border restrictions.

“Works have recommenced on site and erecting the main structure will commence immediately upon initiation of the government protection frameworks - that is the traffic light system - and easing of border restrictions,” O’Reilly says. “We expect to move back into full mobilisation and programming from Friday December 3.”

O’Reilly also says there is no truth to circulating rumours of disputes between involved parties on the development site, or any issue with the level of the floor or with floor loading.

Meanwhile, community development watchdogs Mangawhai Matters (MM) are currently in mediation with MC and Kaipara District Council, with an appeal on six main items - traffic and roading including shared walkways and cycleways; development contributions; amenities and infrastructure; as well as the ‘three waters’ of supply, waste, and stormwater. Local surveyor Peter Rothwell, the Fairy Tern Society and Northland Regional Council are supporting MM in the appeals with ‘Kaipara Concerns’ author Clive Boonham also appealing MC’s wastewater plans. To date, MM spokesperson Doug Lloyd says ‘at this stage talks are positive’.

Covid-imposed brakes will soon be eased from Mangawhai Central’s development site, with work on the New World supermarket set to resume early December. PHOTO/JULIA WADE