An agriculture park will be the showpiece of a rural servicing and retail super-centre planned for a disused sawmill site in the south Waikato town of Putaruru.
The $35 million project is awaiting resource consent and rezoning but the Tauranga-based investors behind the scheme hope to start building work in six months.
The 14.5 hectare site has been vacant since Carter Holt Harvey closed the mill in 2008 with the loss of 230 jobs.
As well as shops and a medical centre, the development will include a 5ha agri-park operating as a permanent agricultural field day, with a New Zealand Farming Hall of Fame and a history of agriculture shed.
