Gore is spreading out, creating a building boom worth millions to the district.
New subdivisions have begun sprouting up, extending the town's boundaries, prompting construction of new homes and other facilities that have forced the Gore District Council to look for another full-time building control officer to help handle the growing workload.
In the first eight months of this financial year, the council has issued building permits for $23 million worth of work - $4 million more than for the whole of the previous 12-month period.
Council building control manager Russell Paterson said consents were up for this time of the year.
‘‘January and February are usually our quiet months, but this year, 665 consents were issued over the two-month period. That's added another $3.5 million to the total,'' he said.
Many of the consents were for ‘‘substantial homes'' around the $500,000 mark.
The council had already issued consents for 11 new houses this year, and several small subdivisions were under way as Gore's boundaries ‘‘balloon out'', which he said was an indicator of Gore's ‘‘growing desirability as a place to settle and bring up a family''.
In the town centre, large old family homes were being relocated and groups of units were being built on the vacated sections.
Mr Paterson said part of the buoyancy was fuelled by the ‘‘white gold'' bonanza of the dairying industry with 10 dairy conversions now being carried out in the district.
With four months of the 2007-08 financial year still to run, the council has already issued 421 building consents, compared to 410 from the same time last year, although the work last year was, at $12 million, worth only half that of this year's consents.
Mr Paterson said the workload meant he was looking for another staff member.
