Council’s decision to lease, and provide an option to buy, the strategic Rutherford-Achilles site for a Connings Food Market is good for the city, consumers and the environment.
Council bought the sites in 2011 but it has had years of uncertainty. The previous Council contracted to sell the properties to Kāinga Ora for a multi-storey State housing development in 2021 but Kāinga Ora recently concluded it was not financially feasible.
Simon Conning emailed me last year wanting to invest in the city and I jumped at the opportunity. The agreement has the Conning family leasing the previous Hunting and Fishing building for a pop-up store to open later this year with the option to buy the full property including the current 4 Seasons building. There is no ratepayer subsidy and Connings will pay fair market price for the lease and land purchase. They propose building a new food market, similar to their successful Appleby complex at Old Factory Corner. The refillery store GoodFor is also coming into the city in August, in the adjacent RE/MAX building.
I thank Councillors for their unanimous support, Council staff, led by Nigel Philpott, for their can-do approach and Connings for their initiative. It will help revitalise Nelson and make our local produce and artisan foods more available to city dwellers. It also fits well with Council’s ambitious “Bridge to Better” plans to upgrade and modernise Bridge Street.
The development is good for consumers, giving them more choice with Connings offering fresh, healthy fruit and vegetables directly from the grower. Horticulture is Nelson’s biggest export earner, and this will showcase it in the heart of our city. It is good for the environment in reducing food miles. It will save thousands of Nelsonians, like me, having to drive out to Appleby, noting that 30% of Connings’ customers come from the city. I also love the reduced packaging from the refillery store.
This initiative is a great entrée for Council’s City Revitalisation Summit next Tuesday. My ambition is to harness Nelson’s smart entrepreneurs, creative thinkers and strong community spirit to help us build a vibrant, prosperous and sustainable city.
