Bunnythorpe Business Park fast-track application
Published on 22 September 2026
A proposed business park near Bunnythorpe is currently being considered through the Government’s fast-track approvals process.
BBP Limited Partnership has applied to the Minister for Infrastructure to have the proposed Bunnythorpe Business Park at 125–127 Kairanga-Bunnythorpe Road referred into the fast-track process.
This is the first of two possible stages. Council is currently being asked to comment on whether the proposal is eligible to move into the fast-track process. If the Minister agrees, the developer could then lodge a more detailed substantive application, which would be considered separately.
The proposal covers about 75 hectares of rural-zoned land. The application mentions the inclusion of industrial, logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, commercial and technology activities. A data centre is also identified as one possible use within a proposed Technology Development Precinct.
The application is not solely for a data centre, but we know the possibility of a data centre has generated significant community interest and concern.
Council’s role in the fast-track process
This is not Palmerston North City Council’s normal resource consent process for development in our area, and we do not decide whether the project enters the fast-track process or if development is to proceed.
Council is invited to provide comments on the referral application and the criteria the Minister considers when deciding whether to accept or decline it. The criteria include whether the project would have significant regional or national economic benefits, deliver new regionally or nationally significant infrastructure, or help address housing needs. Comments can also address whether the project is ineligible (a defined term in the Act) or likely to have significant adverse environmental effects from the local authority perspective, any natural hazard and climate change implications, and whether the Fast-track Approvals process is appropriate for consenting the project. The Council is not asked to comment on the merits of the project.
Council has been formally invited to provide comments to the Minister. At this stage, Council intends to advise the Minister that it does not support this proposal being progressed through the fast-track process.
Council’s formal comments are due on 23 September 2026. Once they have been approved and submitted, we will publish them in full on this page.
What Council intends to raise
Council’s formal comments are still being prepared, but the direction of our response is clear.
Council intends to advise the Minister that we do not support the Bunnythorpe Business Park being progressed through the fast-track process.
At a high level, Council intends to raise:
- whether fast-track is the appropriate process for a development of this scale and complexity
- the information that will be needed to properly assess the proposal
- how the development fits with planned growth and infrastructure in the wider Te Utanganui area
- transport and heavy vehicle movements
- wastewater, drinking water and other infrastructure requirements
- potential flooding and stormwater effects, including downstream effects
- natural hazards
- the loss of highly productive land
- potential landscape, noise and rural amenity effects
- the information supporting the economic benefits claimed for the development
- the Bunnythorpe community and other people or groups likely to be affected if the referral application is accepted.
Flooding is one example where Council considers more information is needed at the substantive stage. The site is within a flood-prone area and Council has questions about the potential effects of the development on the Mangaone Stream and downstream parts of Palmerston North.
There are also unresolved questions about transport, infrastructure servicing and how the development would integrate with other major projects and planned growth in this part of the city.
Council’s final comments will provide the reasons and technical information behind these matters.
We will publish those comments in full once they have been approved and submitted.
Community involvement is important to Council
We know some Bunnythorpe residents are disappointed they have not had a direct opportunity to comment on the referral application.
Council shares concerns about the limited opportunity for the community to be involved.
The referral process is set by the Fast-track Approvals Act, and Council does not decide who the Minister invites to comment.
Council intends to identify the Bunnythorpe community as likely to be affected if the proposal progresses.
Bunnythorpe residents have already been involved in a number of major planning and infrastructure proposals affecting the area, including industrial growth, the KiwiRail Regional Freight Hub, a large-scale solar farm and planning for the Manawatū Regional Freight Ring Road.
Council has also received concerns from residents specifically about a potential data centre and uncertainty about its possible social, cultural, economic and environmental effects.
Council intends to raise these matters through its comments on likely affected persons who should be invited to comment on the substantive application and in relation to the potential effects of the project.
The detailed wording will be set out in Council’s formal comments when they are published.
What is being proposed?
The proposed Bunnythorpe Business Park covers about 75 hectares of rural-zoned land near the future KiwiRail Regional Freight Hub, the existing North East Industrial Zone and the planned Manawatū Regional Freight Ring Road. We refer to this area of the city known for freight and distribution as Te Utanganui.
The proposal for the Bunnythorpe Business Park includes 72 light industrial sites for activities such as logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, commercial and technology businesses. It also includes new roads, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, groundwater bores and earthworks to prepare the site for development.
A 5.5-hectare Technology Development Precinct is also proposed. This could be used for a data centre and supporting facilities, or for other technology and light industrial activities.
There is still limited detail about the individual businesses, buildings and services that would eventually occupy the site, so more information would be needed to fully understand the proposal and its potential effects.
Council intends to raise the need for much more information and assessment if the proposal progresses, including information needed to understand potential effects on nearby residents and Council infrastructure.
How the fast-track process works
The Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 provides a separate one-stop shop for consenting infrastructure and development projects with significant regional or national benefits.
For the Bunnythorpe Business Park, there are two main stages.
The referral stage
This is where the process is now. This means the developer has applied to the Minister for Infrastructure asking for the project to be referred into the fast-track process.
The Minister decides whether the project should be referred. As part of that process, comments can be sought from organisations and groups specified under the legislation, including local authorities.
Palmerston North City Council has been invited to provide formal comments at this stage. Council does not decide whether the referral application is accepted. Our role is to provide any information requested by the Minister. We may also provide additional comments but only if they relate to the referral decision-making criteria.
If the Minister declines the referral, the proposal cannot move to the next stage of this fast-track process. The developer could apply to use fast-track again, or choose to go through the normal planning and consenting processes instead.
For this site, that could include progressing the private plan change and applying for any resource consents needed through Council, or from Horizons Regional Council.
If it is accepted, the developer can then lodge a more detailed substantive application.
The substantive application stage
If the project is referred to this stage, the developer can apply for the resource consents and other approvals it needs through the fast-track process.
That application would be considered by an independent expert panel rather than through Council’s usual resource consent decision-making process.
Council would have further involvement at that stage. This can include commenting on the substantive application, providing further information or reports if requested by the Panel, nominating a member of the expert panel and commenting on proposed consent conditions.
Other people and organisations may also be invited to comment at that stage.
What happens next
Council’s formal comments are due on 23 September 2026.
Once they have been approved and submitted, we will publish them in full on this page.
The Minister for Infrastructure will then decide whether the project should be referred into the fast-track approvals process.
If the referral is accepted, that does not itself approve the development.
The applicant would then need to lodge a substantive application, which would be considered by an independent expert panel.
Council would have another opportunity to participate at that stage, and other people or organisations may also be invited to comment.
We will update this page as the process progresses.
Are there data centres proposed for Palmerston North?
Other than the potential data centre identified as one possible use within the Bunnythorpe Business Park proposal, Council is not currently aware of any other proposed data centres in Palmerston North.
Any separate data centre proposal would be assessed under the planning rules and legislation applying to that proposal.
Under Council’s usual planning process, a proposal would first be assessed against the Palmerston North District Plan to determine whether resource consent was required.
If resource consent was required, whether an application was publicly notified, notified to affected people or processed without notification would depend on the proposal, its potential effects and the statutory notification tests applying at the time.
This is separate from the Bunnythorpe Business Park proposal, which is currently being considered through the Government’s fast-track process.
More information
We will update this page as the process progresses and will publish Palmerston North City Council’s formal comments once they have been submitted.
Fast-track approvals
Te Utanganui – Central New Zealand Distribution Hub