Business park site contamination found after almost all sections sold

Wednesday, 21 August 2024

All but one of the council-led South Waikato Maraetai Road Intermodel Business Park project have already been sold.

Earthworks have been delayed at Tokoroa’s new industrial park after “varying contaminants”, including asbestos, were found at the site.

However, the South Waikato District Council has already conditionally sold 14 of the 15 sections at the Maraetai Rd Intermodal Business Park and said the project would be delayed by around six months as contractors cleared the site.

The council’s head of economic and community development Paul Bowden said surface asbestos contamination was “more widespread than initial testing had indicated” and cooking oil from an old cook-house located on the site also needed to be cleared.

Only one lot remains for sale at Tokoroa's Maraetai Road Intermodal Business Park.

“It’s entirely common for this type of land to have these types of contamination”, which were “associated with the previous industrial processing activities that took place at this location,” Bowden said.

Work to clear older disused buildings at the $20 million commercial and industrial business park began late last year and sections - ranging in size from 1696m² to two hectares - were put up for sale.

He said costs to remove contaminates were not yet known, but the budget for the council-led project included an allowance to remove them.

South Waikato District Council managers, from left, Paul Bowden, Joanne Salvacion and Nick Murphy.

In a report to the council’s Growth and Infrastructure Committee Bowden said the project had not moved into the earthworks construction stage “due to significant identified issues with contamination across multiple parts of the development site”.

“The revised development time-line aims for physical construction to be completed in May 2025 (original date December 2024), with titles being issued in June and July 2025.

“At a commercial level, the development is proceeding well with currently 14 of the 15 lots sold with sale and purchase agreements in place, noting that these are subject to confidentiality clauses.”

Contaminants including cooking oil and asbestos have delayed the start of major earthworks at the South Waikato Maraetai Road Intermodel Business Park.

Bowden said “the nature and feasibility” of Stage Two of the project was now being assessed.

Previously, the owners of Tokoroa’s new dairy processing plant - Olam Food Ingredients - said they were already making use of the site’s rail link to the Port Of Tauranga, and Bowden said a local trucking and freight company Lincoln Logistics had also purchased one of the lots.

“One large lot has been sold to Lincoln Logistics. An agreement has been reached for the purchase of 13 other sections, but as the Sales and Purchase Agreement has not become unconditional, the identity of the purchaser is confidential for now.

“Should the investors of the proposed developments proceed with current plans to establish operations at [the park] then the potential impact on employment will be over the 250 FTE (full-time equivalent) target set at the outset of the project,” Bowden said in his report.

“The development budget is still on track and within contingency settings.

“The additional costs and time associated with clearance of legacy contamination of this brownfield site are being managed within the overall budget envelope.”