HAMILTON'S FUTURE IS LOOKING BRIGHT. “You can't stop growth,” Mayor Julie Hardaker says. Along with recorded increases in the economy, retail sales and building consents is a marked incline in the population, which is growing by 3000-4000 per year, or a street a week.
“When we look at population projections over the next 30 years, Hamilton will increase by the size of Rotorua,” Hardaker says. “That’s significant. And more recently the Auckland influence has been more of a factor than expected.”
Hardaker attributes growth over the last 10-15 years to natural births, people returning to live, increased strength in the manufacturing sector and robust industries, plus the presence of government departments, university, and large centralised health services. Waikato Hospital employs over 6000 staff. She says other drawcards of the family-focused…
