Northland takes two top awards

Annette Lambly-Robinson Reporter from Whangārei Leader

Helping bring a $445 million super fibre-optic submarine cable to Northland has earned the region's economic development agency a top honour in this year's Economic Development NZ Awards by winning Best Practice in Inward Investment.

The 15,000km super fibre-optic Hawaiki Cable project which connects New Zealand with Australia, mainland United States, Hawaii and the Pacific is expected to future-proof New Zealand's internet capacity for the next 25 years.

The cable landed at Mangawhai in February 2018, and was turned on in July.

Northland Inc's General Manager of investment and Infrastructure,Vaughan Cooper, said the initial contact with Hawaiki founder and chief executive Remi Galasso began in 2013 after a group of local businessmen learned the Hawaiki team was looking for a suitable landing site in New Zealand and contacted the agency.

"The cable is now operational, which means Northland now has a digital sector, we have underlying infrastructure to support it, we are creating a digital strategy, and we're underway.

Northland Inc also won the Best Practice in Sustainable Development Award for its Extension 350 project, a farmer-led farmer-focused programme aiming to transform farming practice in Northland.

The project started in November 2016, and over five years will involve 350 farmers throughout Northland.