'Does anyone know what's going up beside McDonald's at Papamoa Plaza?,” they asked on the local Facebook page.

'Hotpools I hope,” said another.

Construction is underway on the Papamoa Plaza.

Wrong on both counts – the Papamoa Plaza's going out rather than up and not a drop of water, hot or cold, is involved.

'Not surprised with the talk,” says Papamoa Plaza centre manager David Hill.

'There's enormous interest in what's happening around here.”

And what's happening is Papamoa Plaza is simply continuing it's growth spurt.

'Fifty new ground-level carparks,” laughs David. 'Right outside the brand new entrance and they'll be ready at the end of the month.”

The centre is well over code for parking, but they're putting more in.

The carpark meant sacrificing the grassy knoll – the centre's distant link with another and more notorious grassy knoll in Dallas Texas, where President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

The Plaza knoll has been levelled for the carpark.

'More and more people are coming to the plaza,” says David.

People walking through the door have gone up from 2.8 million to 3.5 million in the last six months. 'Retailers have been enjoying double-digit growth – this place has been acting as a real touchstone for Papamoa.”

The plaza is also establishing some green space – a village green called The Papamoa Lawn. It'll serve as a quasi town centre.

The new Papamoa Plaza foodcourt and 20 new retail outlets will be opening in October.

And the centre manager reflects on the growth of Papamoa as the plaza continues to grow and spread.

'The population was 20,000 when I arrived three years ago. It's up about 24,000 to 25,000 now. It's gone nuts.”