The word on Bow Street is that a Countdown supermarket is to be built at 22 Bow Street, the location of the Raglan Club. Last week surveyors were seen at 22 Bow Street and adjacent properties measuring up and determining the precise locations of boundaries. The story is that the Raglan Club executive is working with Progressive Enterprises on development of the site. Australian owned Progressive runs the Countdown and SuperValue store brands in New Zealand. The development would see a Countdown established on the site with the Raglan Club accommodated in new rooms above the supermarket.
The story broke on social media earlier this week. It is understood that the Club executive wanted to keep it under wraps until they had all the details worked out. Progressive Enterprises has a reputation for being tight lipped about its future plans. In August 2016 they announced the closure of six New Zealand Countdowns. They only named one, Rangiora Central, which closed in 2016. The other five as yet unnamed locations will close after June 2017. Countdown has opened some new supermarkets in the main centres. In July 2016 they opened a plastic shopping bag free supermarket on Waiheke Island. The 3,490 square metre store has a team of over 100, with more than 12,000 new product lines.
The Club property has a business zoning, so a supermarket is likely a permitted activity, subject to provisions in the District Plan. One of these is the Raglan Town Centre Design Guide which requires all buildings in the CBD to conform to certain styles and colour schemes. Another would be traffic management. Having a major supermarket entrance in Bow Street would spoil the look and feel of the town. We’ve asked Waikato District Council for information on the requirements. See following info supplied late Wednesday 8th:
Update- Waikato District Council General Manager Customer Support Sue Duignan said, “To date the Waikato District Council Consents Team have received no applications or known enquiries regarding Progressive Enterprises establishing a Countdown Supermarket at 22 Bow Street Raglan.
Every application lodged is assessed on its own merits and until such an application is received and the opportunity to assess it is provided, it’s difficult to provide definitive comments around the appropriateness of the site or how an application might affect Raglan’s infrastructure, as this will be partially determined by the scale of any proposal.
The area you are enquiring about is Business Zone where anticipated uses include shops, offices, hotels and community centre facilities. Any application would need to be assessed against the Rules of the District Plan and any relevant provisions in the Plan, including traffic, engineering standards and the Raglan Design Guide.”
At other locations Countdown has shown a flexible approach to fit in with the local community. Its Vinegar Lane store in Ponsonby has a focus on loose organic produce,
Waikato Mayor Allan Sanson said, “I am unaware of this proposal”. Bob MacLeod, Chair of the Raglan Community Board said that the Board had not been briefed on any proposal.
Competition between the two main supermarket businesses is intense. Progressive (Countdown, SuperValue) and Foodstuffs (New World, Pak ‘n Save, Four Square) are continually looking for ways to increase market share with additional stores. In Raglan, Progressive managed to lure the Bow Street supermarket from Four Square to the SuperValue brand. Foodstuffs countered this by establishing a Four Square new store in Bankart Street.
The current negotiations over the Raglan Club site may be land-banking by Progressive of a key site in Raglan for development in the future. The latest population forecast out from Waikato Regional Council shows the projected Raglan / Te Uku combined population growing to 10,055 in 2061. Waiheke’s population is about 9,000. This gives an indication of the population level needed to support a large supermarket. It does show that a large supermarket would be justified in Raglan in a few years.
“In a few years” – roughly in 35 years.
The only sure thing about forecasts is that they will be wrong – either too low or too high.
Roughly in 35 years
Really………isn’t this just a matter of time. I’ve maintained for some years that these kinds of companies have been eyeing up Raglan for years probably. The Raglan Club owns a huge parcel of land and it needs a financial boost big time as I understand it. Sounds like a great marriage!
Seriously………..no one should be surprised. Raglan has to be a town of great interest for new and yes big business.in this case the Club owns a huge piece of prime commercial real estate and needs a considerable financial boost.
Sounds like a great marriage to me. Alan Vink
If done badly this would negatively impact the town. If done well it could enhance it. Seems to me something that the Community Board should be involved in to ensure it is done well.