Quality farm attraction popular

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 20

Quality farm attraction popular

A descendant of the early missionary and former Primate of New Zealand, Octavius Hadfield, has built a $1.4 million quality tourist attraction on land owned by the family for 100 years, between Paraparaumu and Waikanae, north of Wellington. Lindale, a growing experience, is the latest in a small group of agricultural display farms in New Zealand and the owner and developer is Mr Barry Hadfield, a

former Mayor of Kapiti Borough Council, and great-grandson of Bishop Hadfield. Lindale is on the main highway north of Paraparaumu, overlooking the coast and the island from which the district is named. Bishop Hadfield first saw the area in 1840 when he worked among the Ngati Awa of Waikanae and the Ngati Ruakawa of Otaki and later one of his sons

settled on a farm which has been passed down to Barry Hadfield. Barry served six years in the 1970 s as mayor of one of the fastest growing regions in New Zealand which styles itself as a "golden coast” for home ownership, retirement and tourism. The home farm of 220 ha, to the east of the highway and inland, has been retained as a conventional farm by one of Barry’s sons. But the rest

of the family are now working hard at the Lindale development on a small block on the coastal side of the main highway which has been extensively reworked, refenced and planted. “We made the dry bits drier and the wetlands into lakes,” said Barry, “thereby enhancing the farm for animals and waterfowl.” Laneways have been sealed and paddocks subdivided as well as a large wooden and glass, archi-tect-designed central building constructed for the auditorium and shops. The Lindale concept is an extension of the popular Agrodome and Cattledome attractions at Rotorua and Queenstown respectively. Daily sheep and cattle shows follow the format that Godfrey Bowen developed with his sheep show. But at Lindale the audience get to milk the cows and watch the sheep being shorn. The cattle' show contains beef and dairy breeds. The need for a ready supply of sheep for shearing has sent the Hadfields

to local stock markets at regular intervals. The farm contains many breeds of cattle, deer, sheep, goats and pigs. Development of Lindale as a tourist attraction was started in 1984 and it was opened 12 months ago. Visitors have averaged about 4000 to 5000 a month. It is obviously popular with overseas visitors, many of whom value the chance to see and touch live animals, but Barry Hadfield says that 600,000 people live “within a tankful of petrol” in the lower North Island and Lindale was expected to be viable on the domestic tourist trade alone. One of the best features of the development for the New Zealand visitor, who might have been expected to have had something to do with farming before, has been the cheese-making plant and shop. The wide variety of specialty cheeses has been selling very well and Mr Hadfield revealed that it was Mr Ross McCallum, an original partner in the cheese side of the venture, who encouraged Lindale from the beginnings

of the idea. Mr Hadfield had been involved with Gold Coast tourism, was familiar with the Southward’s Car Museum next door, and conceived Lindale as a small-scale farm park with many different types of animals. But with Mr McCallum’s urging, Lindale turned into something much larger, centred on the auditorium and shops, and it hasn't stopped growing. Up to 10 people are employed now, with substantial part-time assistance, including Barry’s wife, Nina, son Anthony and daughter Andrea. A publicity person, John Neilson, is employed. The next attraction is likely to be a honey centre, while the cheese people want to expand into ice cream, various retail plant centres want space, and longer term plans include a horticulture and forestry display, timber centre, winery and craft centre. “Anything that could be seen as part of our slogan — a growing experience,” said Barry Hadfield. “But I have aimed for a quality development, where everything is built

and operated properly.” Prior experience in tourist promotion had convinced him that overseas travellers, in particular, want top quality and are prepared to pay for it. Further expansion

would probably be dependent on a big capital injection from outside and the venture would probably go public one day, he said. Now that some tour companies were including Lindale on their routes,

more and more overseas visitors were coming. In the meantime, the Hadfields are preparing themselves for an expected influx over the Christmas holidays. They really don’t know how many families will

want to come to visit New Zealand’s newest farm attraction. The gap between city and country is quite wide now, Mr Hadfield believes, and many city children are very keen to come to a place like Lindale.