Tauranga City Council is planning to put greater focus on growth in our existing urban areas. This is part of the draft Tauranga Urban Strategy that council will engage with the community on this year.
Today, the City Transformation Committee endorsed the next stage in progressing the draft Tauranga Urban Strategy that will involve community consultation and engagement as well as some early planning initiatives.
The draft urban strategy focuses on supporting community placemaking and the development of more compact forms of housing, with retail, community spaces and commercial activities.
Placemaking is a modern approach to planning and design and involves working closely with local communities to understand their needs, their assets, inspiration and potential, with the intention of creating vibrant urban centres that promote health, happiness and wellbeing.
City Transformation Committee Chair Larry Baldock said that community engagement is key in managing our growth into the future.
“We want to have involvement from the community right from the start of this journey, and it is important we understand what people want for their urban centres, to then move forward and look to deliver this, while enabling growth opportunities.”
“We also want to be transparent, and inform the community on the scope of work that will be underway to progress the different elements of our strategy. Some processes take a number of years to eventuate so while early planning is essential, this still allows for changes along the way’” he said.
The next steps of progressing the draft urban strategy are:
- Community consultation and engagement
- Regulatory preparation including investigation into plan changes
- Alignment with sub-regional approach – Future Development Strategy
- Identifying where we could begin placemaking.
Council is considering where work could begin with placemaking, by collaborating with local communities to understand their vision for the area, and how they want to see it grow and change.
The Te Papa Peninsula has been suggested as a possible first place to start – this includes the city centre and surrounding urban centres along Cameron Road.
This area has promising opportunity for placemaking and urban growth, because of its existing infrastructure, transport options, employment, and healthcare and education institutions. This area also has a relatively low level of hazard/resilience risks making it a good place to start.
“We will be including in our consultation in the coming months that we would like to begin our focus on urban growth and placemaking in the city centre and along the Te Papa Peninsula/Cameron Road corridor,” said Cr Baldock.
“It is important that we hear feedback from the community on this approach, so we can progress our strategy with a shared view on the way forward to manage growth.
For more information on the draft urban strategy, visit www.tauranga.govt.nz/tauranga-urban-strategy