A second supermarket for Lake Hāwea has been given the green light.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has approved a resource consent for a SuperValue Supermarket to be constructed in the township.

The supermarket will be on land between Bodkin Street and Parry Crescent, close to the existing Hāwea Store and Kitchen.

“We are excited to be bringing a SuperValue supermarket to the Hāwea community to serve the growing demands of the village and surrounding areas,” Project H Ltd spokesperson Ray Macleod said.

“The consent allows for a much needed full service supermarket, with its own car parking, and an exciting anchor tenant.”

Aerial photograph of the site

The SuperValue Supermarket ground floor tenancy will have a gross floor area of 450m2 including back of house, office, and staff facilities, while the first floor contains three smaller commercial tenancies.

The approved application said 23 car parks are provided on site along with seven bike parks to support and encourage active travel.

Ray said he was hopeful the supermarket would be operating by the middle of 2023.

“Maybe we will be looking at digging holes come July and it is going to be a 12 month process,” he said.

“We are currently working hard alongside Woolworth’s SuperValue management on building consent drawings and once we are further into this process we will be in a position to advise the building programme in greater detail.”

The approved application said the proposed supermarket would initially employ around 20 workers, a number of whom would be part time, which would increase total employment in Lake Hāwea by eight percent.

The approval follows council’s approval in December 2021 of another supermarket nearby, part of a larger, two-storey development by Quartz Development Group (QDG).

Related: Lake Hāwea commercial development approved

QDG managing director Matt Lamming told the Wānaka App he was disappointed to see Project H’s “non complying activity approved without the same rigour that was applied to Quartz Development Group’s resource consent application for complying activity”.

Matt said, while he would continue to work with expressions of interest from tenants, he would also “reassess the best return for the land that we hold”. 

“In all likelihood we will not be delivering a Supermarket to the Hāwea community this year as originally planned,” he said.

IMAGES: Supplied