News Release
25 February 2009

Progressive Enterprises Disappointed in Court Decision; Notes Confusion It Creates Around Future Investment

Progressive Enterprises is disappointed in the High Court ruling that allows an Environment Court decision to stand, allowing a “big box” retail store to open in Wairau Road even though the area was not zoned for this type of development under the District Plan.

“We acknowledge the court’s decision, but we believe it will undermine confidence in District Plans. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in New Zealand on the understanding that District Plans were the rule, and that everyone had to follow that rule. We believed that you only built supermarkets in areas zoned for retail, and you had to fund roading improvements to mitigate significant increases in traffic. What this decision tells us is that neither is the case, despite what the District Plan says,” said Peter Smith, Managing Director of Progressive Enterprises.

“We are still committed to growing our business in New Zealand, but there is a big question mark now over how and where we should invest,” he said.

Two previous Environment Courts and a High Court had declined proposals for a supermarket on the Wairau Road site because of the proposal’s negative impacts on the North Shore’s town centres, local traffic network, and the objectives and policies of the District Plan. And on two previous occasions, both the North Shore City Council and the Environment Court rejected proposals to build a supermarket on this site because of adverse environmental effects, including traffic.

Progressive recently announced a $150-$200 million capital expenditure program which will fund the development of 3-5 new supermarkets and 18-20 refurbishments across the existing store network every year for the next five years (eg; a total potential investment over five years of approximately $750million-$1billion). Progressive owns Countdown, Foodtown and Woolworths supermarkets.

ENDS

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