Tauranga City Council have formally adopted plans to refresh the Civic Precinct Masterplan which will see facilities such as a museum, library, hotel, performing arts and conference centre and civic whare built in the heart of Tauranga’s CBD.

Meanwhile, Tauranga central’s main public transport hub will relocate in April next year, when demolition works begin on the Civic Precinct project.

The masterplan refresh plans, developed by Willis Bond, were initially put in front of some of Tauranga’s movers and shakers last week ahead of Monday’s council meeting, where they were finalised.

Commission chair Anne Tolley says the layout of the refreshed masterplan and the proposed facilities within it will promote “opportunities for welcoming and expression, learning and discovery, appreciating our past and shaping our future, and places for entertaining and enjoyment”.

“These are activities and experiences the growing population of Tauranga deserve, and visitors expect from the country’s fifth-largest city.”

As part of the proposal put to Council, Willis Bond director Wayne Silver recommends a single-stage phased development approach be taken, suggesting it will help save time and money.

The decision will require a Long-term Plan Amendment process, due to the significant change in the levels of service provided by some of the civic precinct facilities not included in the 2021-31 Long-term Plan.

The LTPA will run alongside the 2022/23 Annual Plan process early next year with the community to be consulted on phasing options.

The initial indicative cost to redevelop two of the sites involved, the main civic precinct and waterfront areas, is estimated at between $270 million and $300 million.

Council anticipates the development on the other site, including the hotel and performing arts and conference centre, will be largely privately funded, with Council likely to contribute to operating costs.

A detailed finance plan with potential funding options, along with further design details, will be considered by the Commission early next year.

The plans have received near overwhelming support from Tauranga’s business community, with Chamber of Commerce CEO Matt Cowley, Sharp Tudhope law partner John Gordon and Downtown Tauranga strategic direction, marketing and communications manager Sally Cooke all speaking in support of the plans in Chambers on Monday.

The Tauranga Urban Task Force group backs the plans “100 per cent” but are wary of funding issues, imploring Council to do all they can to alleviate ratepayer cost.

“The elephant in the room has always been funding and these significant costs cannot all sit with ratepayers,” says UTF chairman Scott Adams.

“The scale of this package of work and the generational benefits needs a partnership funding model. It needs all three Council's across the Western Bay to contribute. It needs support and funding from central government.”

Others are less enthusiastic, with the Tauranga Ratepayers Alliance suggesting on Facebook that the costs will skyrocket to “nearly half a billion dollars”, money which would be better used on Tauranga’s roading network.

Interlinked to the Civic Precinct development at yesterday’s Council meeting was confirmation of a relocation of the Willow Street Bus Interchange.

This is due to demolition work commencing on the current Civic Precinct site in early April 2022.

The new temporary hub will therefore need to be completed by March next year, with construction start expected in early February.

The current location will move to a temporary hub on Durham Street, between Spring Street and Wharf Street, with funding of $1.75m from the Annual Plan needed to facilitate the move.

As part of the plans, Tauranga City Council will also liaise with the Tauranga members of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council Public Transport Committee to discuss and resolve concerns and to immediately begin investigating long-term solutions for the CBD’s bus network.

Commissioners in Monday’s meeting were keen to stress this is seen as an interim solution - with a timeframe of 18 months.

A construction start date for the Civic Precinct redevelopment is pencilled in for mid-2022 with an end date of 2028 the aim.

Source: SunLive.co.nz