Sign In / Register
Finding more car parking space is an ongoing issue for businesses in Warkworth’s industrial estate, particularly in Glenmore Drive.
One Mahurangi manager Murray Chapman says businesses who park unregistered vehicles on the road for long periods are creating a parking issue for staff generally, as well as customers.
“The parking issues can only be solved if we can find space for more parking,” Chapman says.
“One Mahurangi has been in discussions with the Rodney Local Board and Auckland Transport (AT) to see what the answer is, but one solution obviously is to stop businesses leaving vehicles on the roadside for long periods of time.
“The business association meets regularly with a group of business and land owners from the industrial area, and Local Board and AT representatives attend these meetings.
“There is no quick fix, unfortunately, but we keep working with those involved to try to find solutions.”
On the question of whether Warkworth’s industrial development is coherent, given that is it spread over Woodcock Road, Hudson Road and eventually Goatley Road, Chapman says One Mahurangi continues to work through the Transport and Infrastructure Forum with Auckland Council and developers on connectivity and design issues.
He says overall, Mahurangi is pretty well served by its industrial services.
“We try and work with commercial real estate agents where possible to get the right businesses into town but, at the end of the day, it is the landowner’s call.
“As far as I know, Council has nothing in place to steer businesses to relocate here. There is the possibility that a scheme could be worked out with the landlords and perhaps real estate agents if there were a number of commercial properties available. It might then be worthwhile putting together a marketing campaign targeting outside of Warkworth.
“There are a number of job creation schemes around that come from both Council and Government, and we work with Mahurangi College where possible to help them engage with businesses in the industrial area.”
Chapman says that over Covid, there have been two separate economic outcomes in Warkworth. He says while the businesses in the CBD have struggled, there hasn’t been the same impact in the industrial area.
“I have no doubt that some have been hard hit and some will have had more hard-nosed landlords, but they appear to have rebounded more quickly than businesses in the CBD.”
One Mahurangi does not have a sector profile on industrial and commercial business, but there are 450 businesses in the Warkworth Business Improvement District, not including businesses that work from home.
