Missed opportunity for Flaxmere 

Foodstuffs withdrawal of plans to build a new supermarket in Flaxmere is “a missed opportunity for the town to thrive,” says Hastings District Councillor for the Flaxmere Ward, Henry Heke.

Heke says the decision not to go ahead with a sale and purchase agreement for land for the new New World supermarket is “really disappointing” for our community.

“And it’s not a plan that had happened overnight,” explains Heke.

“This has been on the table for over five years; there’s been wananga and workshops in the community and long conversations.”  See BayBuzz https://baybuzz.co.nz/why-not-flaxmere-paknsave/ 

Heke says Flaxmere is the fastest growing suburb in one of New Zealand’s fastest growing regions (HB).

“We expect to build another 1,000 homes here within the next five years,” he says.  

“If we are going to thrive we need to take risks and drive forward with development and attract businesses that will create infrastructure and services that are modern, appropriate and best suited to our community.

“We want businesses to come in and say they choose Flaxmere and the lifestyle here to raise their families.  

“Along with Camberley and Marenui we’ve got plenty of land here to develop and grow and I remain absolutely committed to growing our community.”  

BayBuzz asked Foodstuffs if they had any plans to develop the current store.  

Emma Wooster, Foodstuffs spokesperson replied, “Everyone’s gutted we can’t go ahead as expected, but we want to assure our customers we remain committed to continuing to deliver the best retail experience possible and providing the highest quality products from the New World store in Flaxmere.” 

In announcing their decision Foodstuffs said that building a supermarket on the Flaxmere site in the current economic environment wasn’t sustainable. 

Current Flaxmere New World owner Ben Duffield says he too “is gutted about the whole situation, but understands the current climate we’re in”.

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said she was very disappointed that the new supermarket was not able to proceed, but accepted that the challenges posed by the rapidly increasing construction costs over the past three years had made such endeavours difficult for such large projects.  

“Our council is committed to creating a fit-for-purpose town centre for Flaxmere. We have commercially-zoned land that gives us options to advance this.”

Foodstuffs has a total of 25 New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square stores in the HB region, which are all 100% locally owned and operated by grocers who live and work in their communities. Over a third of Foodstuffs North Island’s capital investment went into the region in the last 12 months, including a new $17m New World in Wairoa, and a new $20m transport hub in Hastings, which soon after opening played a key role in getting urgent supplies to cyclone hit areas. 

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air