Business Park latest: IT'S UNDER WAY

Work has begun on the 22-hectare Oamaru Business Park, as infrastructure vital to the development gets under way.

Marketing agent Tony Spivey Snr said the park was "the best thing to happen to Oamaru".

"To have the park finally under way is just terrific," he said.

"It is the best thing to happen to Oamaru and North Otago for a long time, and it is great to see local businesses involved in the development work."

Local companies involved in site infrastructure work include Whitestone Contracting and Network Waitaki.

The project is being managed by Beca, one of the largest employee-owned engineering and related consultancy services companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Spivey said the infrastructure work would be completed by April and work would then be progressed, applying for individual titles for each of the lots.

"Waitaki District Council are to be congratulated on supporting this project and seeing it through to fruition," he said.

Work has recently been done by Network Waitaki to move cables underground, replacing overhead wiring at the front of the park and along the Thames Highway in readiness for the development.

Mr Spivey said interest in the site had been strong and was expected to increase once the services were in place.

"The business park allows current industry to expand, and it also gives new and existing businesses flexibility," he said.

The park development is being carried out by Oamaru Land Holdings, whose directors are Andrew and Michael Carpenter of Auckland.

The land was originally owned by Horotomi Ochi, founder and majority shareholder of Nikken Seil, who bought more than 500ha in North Otago in 2000, including Teschemakers, the former Catholic girls' boarding school.

It was Dr Ochi's aim to develop a $20 million business park but he died before the plans could come to fruition. Stage one of the Oamaru Business Park comprises 17 serviced lots.