Industry News, April 2025

It’s that time of year where we take a look at what’s been happening close to home and further afield, and provide our round-up of some of the latest industry news.

In this article you’ll find a focus on the environment and improved safety in the latest machinery advances, a building industry focus on burnout (and preventing it) and escalating building costs, and some updates on local projects in roading and water.

Read on for all the details. If you’ve got any feedback we’d love to hear from you – you can get in touch at marketing@allwayshire.co.nz

The latest machinery news

A move towards sustainable innovation for Yanmar

Yanmar is continuing its “strategic move towards sustainable innovation” with a focus on electrification of its “off-highway” machinery. A new unit of the business begins operations in April 2025 with a focus on e-powertrain solutions, including batteries and eDrives. It will be exciting to see how this innovation is used in the design of excavators, wheel loaders, and other industrial machinery.

Read more.

Using technology to create a safer work environment with Ammann

Amman is sharing its first advances on the road to full machine autonomy at Bauma 2025 this April. These include new 360 view camera and Ammann Safe Assist (ASA) technology. ASA is an active safety assistant system designed to prevent collisions on the jobsite.

Read more

The latest industry news

44% increase in the cost of home building reported

It’s been reported in Building Today this Autumn that the cost of building has increased by 44% over the past 4 years. This was the major finding from a recent QV CostBuilder study that looked at the comparative cost of building a standardised 150sq m home across six main urban centres — Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton and Palmerston North.

Read more.

Burnout is a real risk

Builders and Contractors started the year with a focus on the risk of burnout for tradies and contractors. If you haven’t already read the article and you’re battling with long hours and high pressure on the job – this is well worth a closer look. Their aim is for everyone to be able to spot the signs in themselves and others.

Read more.

Local News

Work on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway continues

If you need to get from one side of Hawke’s Bay to the other, you’re sure to have been affected by the ongoing work on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.

You can keep up to date with the project as it progresses here. The planned completion date is 2034 and NZTA regularly posts project updates on the site.

Find out more.

A significant investment in our region’s roading

The green light has been given to the planned rerouting of the Napier-Wairoa road to bypass the troubled Waikare Gorge. Described by NZ Herald as “the most expensive highway reconstruction ever in Hawke’s Bay” it’s planned cost is up to $425 million.

Read all the details about the project here.

Plans for a water storage facility

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has confirmed that plans for a water storage facility to support the natural environment and economic prosperity of the Heretaunga Plains, including Napier and Hastings, are moving into a full feasibility phase.

“The facility would supplement river and lowland stream flows for environmental purposes, enable existing water use which is increasingly constrained, deliver new water to help adapt to a changing climate, and enable growth [in] the world-class, fertile soils of the Heretaunga Plains.”

Read about the planned process and timelines, and the reactions from the different councils across Hawke’s Bay.