Warkworth Ridge: The Earth Moved

Auckland 28 March 2022 – Templeton Group has reached an earthmoving milestone at Warkworth Ridge, just 45 minutes from Auckland’s CBD: it has shifted over 250,000 m3of earth at its $350 million land development project this earthworks season.

Warkworth Ridge is a 53Ha residential development on an elevated, contoured greenfield site to the north of Warkworth. Templeton’s earthworks contractor, Bob Hick Earthmoving, carried out 100,000 m3 in cut and fill excavations in January and is now shifting 7,500 m3 of each day as part of a $70 million programme of work.

Each week 45,000 m3 of earth is moved on the $350 million land development project. That’s over 4,000 dump truck movements, all strictly managed in accordance with a master plan designed to deliver an integrated, amenity-rich, well-connected, and spatially coherent urban community within a tranquil rural setting.[1].

The earthworks are starting to reveal the scale and shape of the development which will deliver 650 new homes at the end of a soon-to-open $1 Billion motorway. To enable the residential development to go ahead on this exceptional site Templeton obtained a change to the Unitary Plan, PC40, in June 2021. It received a Resource Consent for the entire master-planned project over Christmas 2021, making Warkworth Ridge the only large-scale, zoned and fully consented land development under construction in Warkworth.

The Resource Consent allowed the earthmovers to take advantage of the summer weather to ramp up operations in the first of three seasons of planned earthworks. This programme will shape the development around the land’s natural contours, preserving the defining features and preparing the land for civil works.

Templeton will deliver a high-quality, master-planned, mixed housing community comprising 643 homes nestled into to the rural countryside. Made from two farms and sitting to the east – the coastal side -- of all major transport corridors, the site offers a superb balance of elevated views, native bush surroundings, excellent motorway access and an easy sub-10 minute drive, unhindered by motorways or urban traffic, to the region’s unmatched natural and built amenities and all that goes with them.

The location sits at the gateway to the Matakana Coast with its superb beaches, waterways, parks and marine reserves – Tawharanui, Omaha, Snell’s Beach, Mahurangi, Goat Island, Pakiri, Sandspit and a host more of Auckland’s best-loved places. It adjoins Warkworth itself and Matakana: the latter’s much loved village market is but a short cycle ride away. Then there are the potteries, galleries, wine country, breweries, artists, craftspeople and artisanal producers, waiting to be discovered on the road to Leigh and the coast beyond. All these amenities can be accessed from Warkworth Ridge without crossing the motorway, making it easy for motorists, cyclists and walkers to enjoy them.

The community will also be primary beneficiary of a massive and ongoing investment in infrastructure. the site takes maximum advantage of NX2, the $1 billion motorway extension to SH1 that will connect Warkworth to major transport routes, reducing travel times and easing congestion. And the $27 million Matakana Link Rd, which unlocks Warkworth’s existing traffic problems, underpins the entire development by connecting Warkworth Ridge directly to NZ2.

“People who already live in this area never want to leave,” says Templeton Founder, Nigel McKenna. “Those who come to live here will have even fewer reasons to do so. Rapidly evolving patterns of work and a broader acceptance of working from home mean that people whose offices are in Auckland now venture into them far less frequently than they did before Covid struck. Those who move here and join this community will be able to enjoy all it has to offer far more often.”

“And people now are able to enjoy the countryside far more often. Rapidly evolving patterns of work and a broader acceptance of working from home mean that people whose offices are in Auckland now venture into them far less frequently than they did before Covid struck.

“People who live in this area never want to leave. Now they can leave less often.”

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