Foodstuffs North Island has confirmed it has transferred ownership of its former PAK’nSAVE site in Kaitaia to Far North Holdings, the organisation working on the Master Planning for the revitalisation of the town centre. Under the stewardship of Far North Holdings, it’s hoped the donated site will play a pivotal role in the regeneration of Kaitaia.
The co-operative worked alongside the Council-owned company to ensure the site could be handed on to Far North Holdings for the nominal amount of $1. Foodstuffs North Island also gave a commitment to donate $300,000 to Far North Holdings to support any project on the site that will be of benefit to the local community.
The agreement, which was completed on 14th September 2022, was reached following a series of community meetings, held by Far North Holdings, to outline its masterplan for the town centre, which includes plans to develop the land of the former supermarket as part of a significant urban redevelopment.
Following public feedback, the scope of Foodstuffs North Island’s $300,000 donation was widened to any project that is for the benefit of the local community.
Far North Holdings now has full ownership of the land, with no caveats or covenants attached to it. Since the site became vacant, Foodstuffs North Island has strived to find a viable solution that would ensure the land could be returned to the community.
“Our plan has always been for this land to be used in a way that would benefit the local community,” explains Chris Quin, CEO of Foodstuffs North Island. “It’s taken a longer than we could have ever anticipated, we believe the agreement we’ve reached with Far North Holdings marks a new chapter for the site and the town centre. The transition of ownership of the land and the commitment to donate $300,000 are all part our ongoing pledge to work in partnership with the local community and support Kaitaia to thrive. It really is our privilege to work alongside such an exciting project.
“We haven’t been prescriptive about how the $300,000 can be used,” continues Quin. “Demolition work, remediation, retail, master planning anything as long as the outcome will add value to the local community, which has always been our long-term goal for the site.”
Far North Holdings has a proven track-record in delivering projects that benefit the wider Far North community and local businesses.
Far North Holdings has contracted a local demolition company to complete the demolition, and this is expected to start in the coming weeks. This will see the former building demolished, and the site cleared ready for the next chapter. Works around the carpark will be carried out in conjunction with the Te Hiku Working group as part of the Te Hiku Revitalisation programme.
A site blessing will take place prior to demolition, a date and time will be published on the Kaitaia Business Association Facebook page closer to the time.
Far North Holdings will be continuing the master planning works over the coming months for the site and will have further public consultation and updates in due course.
New Zealand’s first PAK’nSAVE opened in Kaitaia in 1985, and Foodstuffs North Island has made an ongoing commitment to support the local area. In June 2022, the co-op and Te Kahu Oranga Whānau worked in partnership to open New Zealand’s first Māori-led social supermarket, Te Hiku Pātaka in Kaitaia which serves the local community, providing dignity of choice for whānau in the region who need support accessing food.
Foodstuffs North Island is a cooperative of 350 local grocers who own and operate New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square stores in hundreds of communities around the North Island employing over 24,000 people.
In the last financial year, Foodstuffs North Island invested over $100 million into building and transformation projects including new stores in Wairoa, Waiheke’s Onetangi, Northland’s Marsden Cove and Te Kauwhata in Waikato, as well as replacement PAK’nSAVE store in Auckland’s Henderson. The cooperative also invested $21.4m in technology, including customer facing technology and core system enhancement.
