Non-existent train station big selling point for development company's Lower Hutt townhouses

Thursday, 28 January 2021

Wolfbrook Property Group has mistakenly advertised its Fitzherbert Rd development in Lower Hutt as having easy access to a non-existent railway station.

Developers promoting an “effortless daily commute” from an isolated Lower Hutt suburb should have done their homework.

Along with the usual sales patter about elegant design features and nearby cafés, Wolfbrook Property Group’s original online listing for 10 townhouses at 26 Fitzherbert Rd in Wainuiomata said the development had easy access to the local train station. The only problem was the trains don’t run from Wainuiomata, and they never have.

Wellington’s rail network has never extended over the Wainuiomata hill. A KiwiRail spokesman says they have no intention to build a rail line to the suburb.

“In close proximity to Wainuiomata Train Station with trains departing to Lower Hutt and Wellington regularly makes for an effortless daily commute,” the Christchruch-based company’s pitch boasted.

The slip-up was picked up by people on social media with one commenter likening it to the Harry Potter books’ Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station which is concealed under a spell from non-wizard folk.

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Christchurch-based developers Wolfbrook are advertising a Lower Hutt development as being closed to the non-existent Wainuiomata Train Station.

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A KiwiRail spokesman said proposals for a rail link to the suburb went back as far as the 1870s but none had progressed.

The Lower Hutt suburb of Wainuiomata is touted as 'one of the great secrets of the Wellington region' by a local real estate company. Video first published in 2018.

“Unfortunately, there isn’t a train station in Wainuiomata and KiwiRail does not have any plans to build a rail line to the suburb.”

Speaker of the House and Wainuiomata resident Trevor Mallard told Stuff, “that is the danger of out of city PR people – they sometimes get a bit short in the facts”.

He said investigations had always concluded the track gradient would be too steep. Wainuiomata is about 86 metres above sea level and is separated from the rest of Lower Hutt by a hill.

Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry, another Wainuiomata local, said he was surprised to see the company’s reference to the fictitious station.

“If they want to give me call I’d be more than happy to take them on the fantastic 160 and 170 bus services that run [out of Wainuiomata]. There’s certainly no train service.”

Wolfbrook chief executive Guy Randall said the text on their webpage was a placeholder which they had failed to update before publishing. The company’s locally-based team were aware there was no train station in Wainuiomata, he said.

The error was removed on Thursday afternoon.

There is a mix of one and two bedroom townhouses at the Fitzherbert development with the units due to be complete around August 2021.

The company has two other developments in Lower Hutt with a 10-unit development having sold out in Stokes Valley and another 12-townhouse lot completely under offer in Taita.

They are one of at least two Christchurch-based companies operating in Lower Hutt where house prices have skyrocketed. Real Estate Institute of New Zealand figures show median prices increased from $615,000 to $783,000 between December 2019 and 2020.