Ruakura Superhub is making exciting progress as the 92-hectare first stage moves towards a planned opening date of mid-2022.
As this recent aerial image shows – the distinctive form of Ruakura Superhub is now emerging from the landscape. The inland port site, logistics and industrial zones, service centre and wetland can all be clearly seen, along with new local roads connecting to the Waikato Expressway and the city.
Peter Tuck, General Manager Development, says up to 200 workers are active on site each day from major local contractors who include C&R Developments, Schick Civil Construction, Cambridge Construction and Calder Stewart. As at September around 40 members of Waikato-Tainui were employed with contractors and a further 12 iwi members are expected to take up roles this month. Three of the sub-contractors on site are businesses owned by tribal members.
In addition, members of local hapuu are currently cultivating and will soon be involved with planting more than 1 million native plants around the 10-hectare wetland area and other green corridors.
“Safety is the number one priority with a lot of large machinery across the site, complex traffic movements and many people coming on and off the site. We have done a lot of work to make sure there is clear communication between the contractors, daily safety briefings, safety fencing, security cameras and external audits,” says Peter.
Work is also underway on the first logistics building on the site – a 4,000m2 regional centre for PBT Express Freight Network. Head contractor Calder Stewart is leading the build which will be ready for opening in mid-2022.
“When Ruakura Superhub opens next year, we want everyone to be able to easily find their way around. With this in mind we are getting help from Diadem which specialises in ‘placemaking’ to make sure we have the right signage and symbols so that it’s a very intuitive experience for people to find us, move around and leave,” Peter says.
Over the past 18 months, PBT Express Freight and Waitomo Group have been confirmed as early-mover tenants at Ruakura Superhub. Port of Tauranga has joined as a joint venture partner for the inland port. TGH has recently entered heads of agreement with a further two major tenants and is in advanced negotiations with a further three internationally significant businesses.
“This all bodes well for a very dynamic precinct of related businesses, creating many benefits for local importers and exporters, our regional economy and Waikato-Tainui.”