Waipā District Council is backing Hautapu’s transformation into Cambridge’s main industrial hub through targeted infrastructure investment.
Hautapu is drawing businesses that mean business.
Comins Plumbing and Gas relocated its 24-vehicle operation to Hautapu Road from Leamington in 2023 and hasn’t looked back.
The Bale café opened on Parakiwai Road two years later, creating a dozen jobs to serve the growing industrial community around them.
Both businesses made a deliberate choice to be in Hautapu. Both are growing and say Hautapu is only getting started.
“We are averaging growth of eight to ten per cent a year,” says Comins’ general manager Stuart Peden.
He has also seen a 30 per cent rise in walk-in business since moving to Cambridge’s primary industrial hub.
Proximity to State Highway One was a key factor in the move.
“State Highway One is three minutes from our door,” Stuart says.
The move has enabled Comins to future proof its operations in the golden triangle formed by the Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions for the next 25 years.
“We didn’t have to move, but we chose to move because Hautapu was looking like the best place to be. It was a good decision.”
Waipā District Council is delivering an infrastructure programme in Hautapu to support that growth. The programme consists of six co-ordinated projects covering road improvements, stormwater and water supply upgrades, and a new wastewater network.
The first, a large soakage basin to capture and manage stormwater from existing and new developments, is expected to begin shortly.
The Comins Plumbing and Gas team operate under a buy local policy and enjoy proximity to other businesses that have recently established in the Hautapu industrial hub.
“As much as possible, we buy local,” Stuart adds. “We try really hard to support Hautapu and
Cambridge businesses.”
Country Co catering director Sam Amundsen and her partner Justin Howard established The Bale with encouragement from the Cambridge Business Chamber.
“We took off with an absolute hiss and a roar,” says Sam.
She describes the experience as epic.
“We saw the growth potential in Hautapu with so much more development to keep happening in the years to come,” Sam says.
She and Howard are also dairy farmers.
“We enjoy relationships that form with businesses and the ability to become a destination café. The community that has formed out here is pretty neat. Our customer base is very loyal. We truly love doing business in Hautapu.”
