PHOTO: ABIGAIL DOUGHERTY/STUFF Waiwera Thermal Resort & Spa in north Auckland is closed and deserted.
The thermal village of Waiwera once bubbled with the sound of families frolicking in its hot spring pools – but now locals are more likely to hear gunfire as police use the derelict complex as a training ground.
Instead of children whooshing down hydroslides, cops in bulletproof vests descend from helicopters flying over the seaside village in north Auckland.
On Wednesday, the Waiwera Group, which ran the Waiwera bottling company and water park, was placed into liquidation.
According to the first liquidators report by Staples Rodway, published in March this year, Waiwera Thermal Resort owed Waiwera Group Limited $2.1 million, Inland Revenue $584,481 and unsecured creditors $1.1m.
READ MORE VIA STUFF