New Zealand’s biggest new supermarket, Highland Park Pak’nSave, is set to officially open on February 25, but its owners are blaming Watercare for potential delays in the opening date.
Foodstuffs North Island’s general manager of retail and property, Lindsay Rowles, stated that Watercare informed Foodstuffs that a large water storage tank was required for firefighting purposes at the supermarket. However, the advice Foodstuffs received from experts showed that the existing water supply network was more than sufficient to meet all firefighting needs.
The proposed water storage tank would be as large as three buses, capable of holding 250,000 litres, and would be installed underground.
Rowles also noted that the installation of the said tank was “extremely difficult for us now, because we’ve built the new supermarket and its car park.”
He said the February 25 opening of the $100 million Pak’nSave Highland Park was “at risk.”
Watercare chief strategy and planning officer Priyan Perera said they have been in communication with Foodstuffs since June of the previous year, when Foodstuffs submitted an application to connect to Watercare’s services.
“While we were unable to approve their application due to a significant change in their water demand, we acknowledge and support their desire to open later this month. We have offered an interim solution that will allow the supermarket to open on its intended date, but Foodstuffs has not yet confirmed it will proceed with this option,” Perera said.
Priyan Perera also pointed out that Foodstuffs had not responded to Watercare’s proposal for the interim solution.
According to Rowles, Watercare approved documents for the construction of the store in July 2023 but did not request information about the water flow rates required for use on the site at that time.
“We’ve now gone to get approvals for final connections with Watercare, and this is where it gets strange. We have a water intake demand of 92L per second and a buffer of a further 25L a second, drawing 117L per second in total at maximum use. But the system has 121 L per second available, so the system we have is more than adequate, and we’ve tested that three times,” he stated.
Rowles emphasised that Watercare is concerned that if the building were to catch fire, the amount of water required for firefighting could strain the network, potentially causing issues.
“We’re saying that’s not true. Our daily use is below that, and even if there was a fire, our use is less than the capacity available,” he said.
Perera responded to Rowles’ statement, saying that during the review of the engineering plan approval application in 2023, Foodstuffs “did not specify any special requirements for firefighting flows, beyond the standard requirement for 25 litres per second to be available in the network to meet the NZ Firefighting Code of Practice.”
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Foodstuffs applied to connect to our water network last June, and we sought additional information, that they then told us they needed 90.5 litres per second for firefighting flow, which is significantly more than the standard requirement in this area,” he said.
If the installation of the proposed water storage tank underground pushes through, the loading dock would have to be dug up, which could cost around $1m for Foodstuffs. Moreover, code compliance can’t be signed until water connections are approved.