Cancer Society Northland Lodge

Bringing cancer care closer to home

The Cancer Society plays an important role in supporting people affected by cancer throughout Northland, providing community nursing, counselling, practical assistance and transport to treatment.

The new Northland Lodge will extend this support by providing accommodation for patients and their whānau close to Whangārei Hospital and the Jim Carney Cancer Treatment Centre. For people travelling from across Te Tai Tokerau, the lodge will help reduce the burden of long-distance travel for treatment, providing a safe, comfortable environment with access to wellbeing services and shared spaces for connection and support.

The development

Located at 45 Hospital Road, directly opposite Whangārei Hospital, the lodge has been designed to provide a welcoming residential environment that responds to the needs of patients and their families.

The facility will include:

• 20 accommodation units for patients and whānau
• Communal lounge and dining areas
• Dedicated counselling and wellness facilities
• Landscaped outdoor areas, including terraces and a sheltered courtyard
• On-site parking and accessible facilities
• Convenient access to Whangārei Hospital and the Jim Carney Cancer Treatment Centre

The design brings together practical accommodation needs with spaces that support comfort, privacy and wellbeing.

Navigating the consenting process

Establishing a supported residential care facility on this site required careful consideration of its location, neighbouring properties, sloping terrain and infrastructure requirements. Key planning considerations included building height, vehicle access, traffic movements, earthworks and retaining structures.

Cato Bolam led the resource consenting process, securing the necessary district and regional approvals, liaising with neighbouring property owners and facilitating associated legal agreements. Working closely with the wider project team, our planners helped navigate regulatory requirements and address site constraints, providing a clear pathway for the development to progress.

The outcome

With resource consents secured and construction underway, the new Cancer Society Northland Lodge represents an important step towards improving access to cancer care across Te Tai Tokerau.

Cato Bolam is proud to have partnered with Cancer Society Auckland Northland, Klein Architects, Stellar Project Management and the wider project team to help bring this valuable community facility from concept through to consent.

The lodge will provide more than accommodation. It will offer a place of comfort, connection and support for patients and their whānau, helping make cancer treatment closer to home a reality for more Northlanders.