First N.Z. technology park opens today

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 29

First N.Z. technology park opens today

The Canterbury Technology Park opens officially today. The completion of its roadway, Sir William Pickering Drive, opens the park as an exclusive home of high tech industry and the site of intensive construction.

The developers describe the park as “a seed-bed for researchers with a cross-fertilisation of ideas, linked by state-of-the-art telecommunications to the world’s industrial and business centres in microseconds." Two thirds of the available space in the park has already been taken up.

The opening celebrations are in keeping with the ambitious and international aims of New Zealand’s first technology park.

Guests will assemble at 3.30 p.m. outside the park in Sheffield Crescent to be welcomed by Mr Denis Breese, chairman of the Technology Park Board and director of marketing and public affairs for LINC Developments, and to hear speeches from Mrs Margaret Murray of the Waimairi District Council, and the Minister of Trade and Marketing, Mr Mike Moore.

At 4 p.m. the guest of honour, Sir William Pickering, will officially open the roadway named for him and unveil a. plaque on the first building to open in the park, the third stage of the Unisys-LINC Developments headquarters.

The ribbon-cutting cere-

mony itself has a twist to it. Being part of a “high tech” park, nothing so simple as a pair of scissors will do. Sir William will throw a switch on a capacitor which will send out an electric current to burn through the ribbon.

The formalities will be followed by entertainment from the newly formed Canterbury Youth Band, sponsored by UnisysLINC, and a display of science exhibits. Those involved in the technology park emphasise that it is not just another property development. They believe it is preparing Canterbury for the twenty-first century. It uses Canterbury’s strengths to present a highly attractive package to industries centred on technology application and research — the growth industries of the latter part of this century and the next.

The importance to the region of having a centre for such businesses cannot be underestimated.

When the park is full, an estimated $6O million will have been invested in its buildings.

The developers expect about 1000 people to be employed there, and while these are not necessarily “new” jobs, they will in turn create at least a further 1000 jobs in service industries.

They believe the initiative and practical capabilities discovered in establishing the park, as well as the park itself, place Canterbury in a strong position for the future.