We are working on planning two new urban growth areas – new suburbs – to cater for the growth of Tauranga and the western Bay of Plenty. Te Tumu in Papamoa East could provide approximately 7,000 new dwellings, while Tauriko West could add 3,000 dwellings to the city’s housing stock.
These projects aim at creating thriving communities that allow people to live, work, learn and play locally. They look at how we can provide more housing along with amenities such as schools, reserves, cycle and walkways, access to shopping and community facilities, connection to employment, and transport infrastructure.
Planning for new suburbs involves defining the rules for development in each area. These rules, such as height, density or open space requirements, can help achieve outcomes like housing affordability, accessibility and housing choice (size and types of housing).
Cr. Larry Baldock, Chair of the City Transformation Committee says that Tauranga’s community is changing, and consequently that housing needs are changing too.
“SmartGrowth’s Housing Demand and Need report published late last year highlighted that housing affordability is an increasing challenge in Tauranga and the western Bay of Plenty”, said Larry.
“It also told us that households of one, two or three people will become more common than the four or five household make-up we’ve known in past decades.
“And our population is ageing, creating different requirements for accessibility and size of dwellings. There are things Council can do to help the housing market adapt to these changing needs.”
Council’s role can range from that of an enabler – allowing other actors to achieve good housing outcomes – to that of a regulator, putting in place mandatory measures through the City Plan.
A workshop tomorrow aims to assist Tauranga elected members in considering to what level Council should be involved in achieving housing outcomes in greenfield development areas, and consequently what mechanisms could be put in place in Te Tumu and Tauriko West.
Andrew Mead, Manager: City & Infrastructure Planning says that the workshop will bring together Council and staff from Tauranga and surrounding councils, developers and landowners, SmartGrowth forums and Tangata Whenua representatives, the Tauranga Community Housing Trust, NZ Transport Agency, Housing NZ, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Property Council. Queenstown Lakes District Council will share the experience from their mayoral housing affordability taskforce, Veros Property Partners will talk to the market delivery challenge, the developers will present their development plans and MBIE will initiate a discussion on partnering with central government on potential opportunities to help deliver the KiwiBuild and social housing programmes in these new growth areas.
“The purpose of the workshop is to hear a broad range of views around the housing outcomes we want and possible options to achieve them”, says Andrew.
“This will inform our Council’s future thinking on how it should influence these housing outcomes in the future delivery of housing in Te Tumu and Tauriko West.”
The open workshop will run from 1pm to 5pm on Wednesday 14 February at the Mount Bowls Club, 45-47 Kawaka Street, Mount Maunganui. All welcome.