Peninsula communities in the Tauranga suburb of Ōtūmoetai are being asked what they want the future of their area to look like.
A new initiative, titled ‘Take me to the future: Ōtūmoetai 2050’, has been launched by Tauranga City Council in an attempt to develop a 30-year plan to support growth in Ōtūmoetai, Matua, Brookfield, Bellevue and Judea.
The scheme will use interactive maps and webinars and accommodate in-person community sessions to address issues such as a lack of housing, suitable ways for people to get around and community spaces to support wellbeing.
The city of Tauranga is projected to grow to the tune of 78,500 residents by 2063, and council projections suggest approximately 34,400 new houses need to be built in order to meet demand.
“Central government has given us the job of facilitating growth across Tauranga,” says commission chair Anne Tolley, who saw her tenure extended last month after Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta ruled out a return to local elections in New Zealand’s fifth-largest city until July 2024.
“This includes enabling more housing to be built at greater densities and heights within existing urban areas such as the city centre, Te Papa Peninsula and the Ōtūmoetai Peninsula.
“Population growth will occur across our city, but particularly in this area, because its central location, proximity to the water, green spaces and other commercial and retail centres make it a great place to live.”
Tolley says Ōtūmoetai, Matua, Brookfield, Bellevue and Judea residents can expect to see “big changes” over the next 30 years.
“This project is about understanding what people love about this part of the city and how we can enable more people to live here, while still retaining the qualities and characteristics that make it so special,” she said.
Relevant communities have until the end of April to let council know what they think should be better or different via the use of interactive maps.
In total, five maps concentrate on future commercial and retail centres, public transport, walkways and cycleways, community amenities and facilities and ways of feeling safe in the community.
Tauranga City Council’s programme director of urban communities, Carl Lucca, said people in the peninsula area have previously flagged these preferred areas of improvement via feedback to surveys.
“We now want to look at these in more detail with Ōtūmoetai Peninsula residents,” said Lucca.
“To take part, people can drop a pin directly on a location on any of our online interactive maps, with comments or suggestions about things they like or don’t like about their neighbourhood. They can also see what other people are saying.”
Residents and community groups are also welcome to email or post their feedback to the project team.
Feedback will be collected and fed into a draft plan – also known as a ‘spatial plan’ – that will be available for further feedback later this year.
A series of online webinars and in-person sessions with the project team will be held in Matua and Brookfield this month, while interactive maps and information about the initiative can be found here.
Former National MP Tolley was confirmed as commission chair in February 2021 as part of a four-person team appointed to replace the leadership of Tauranga City Council, who were stood down due to “dysfunctional behaviour, name-calling and petty politics”.
The commission also includes independent chair of Smartgrowth, Bill Wasley, former chief of infrastructure New Zealand, Stephen Selwood and expert in the Resource Management Act and iwi relations, Shadrach Rolleston.
Credit: Stuff.co.nz
