Blueprint for next 50 years in Western BOP
These would run through the centre, from Tauriko to Mount Maunganui via Cameron Rd, east via Te Maunga and Wairakei/te Tumu to Paengaroa, west into the Kaimai range via State Highway 36 and Tauriko, and north to Waihi via Takitimu Drive and Bethlehem.
The transport system, in general, would be gradually transitioned to multi-modal, with a goal of keeping most work commutes to 35-40 minutes or less.
Another goal was to have better housing affordability than the national average — a big ask given Tauranga has, by some measures, New Zealand’s most unaffordable market.
New communities would be gradually developed in the east, west and north, connected to public transport and job hubs.
Greenfield developments would aim for an average density of 30 dwellings per hectare, and most existing suburbs would also be touched by intensification, but especially the Te Papa peninsula, Otumoetai and surrounding suburbs, and Mount Maunganui and Arataki.
A Cbd-mount-maybe Omokoroa ferry service was looking promising, but passenger rail would not be viable for a few decades at least.
A decision about where new harbour crossing lanes should go would be made in the next 10 years, before the Matapihi Rail Bridge was due for replacement.
Costs of delivering the programme would be largely split between the Government/nzta and councils, with other funding options to also be investigated.
The programme will inform many other pieces of planning work, including a new joint spatial plan that was expected be publicly consulted early next year.
It would happen around the same time councils were putting together their next long-term plans — budgets and work plans for the next decade.
What happens next?
Yesterday’s approvals — which did not include funding commitments — mean the plan is now destined for Wellington for endorsement by the Government later this month and the board of NZTA in August.
Minister of Urban Development and Transport Phil Twyford told the Bay of Plenty Times he would take the plan to Cabinet where he expected it would be endorsed.
He also expected Cabinet to approve an invitation from the Smartgrowth councils for the Government to formally join the partnership. This would see three ministers given voting rights in the leadership group.
Asked what he would say to a current resident worried about the scale of change proposed, he said the Western Bay was an extraordinary place with a vibrant economy, and a desirable place to live.
“But unless we manage the growth challenge for infrastructure, housing and transport right, it won’t be much of a place for our kids, and their kids.
“I think the plan that has been worked out really offers and a new and better way to tackle congestion and build more homes in places where people want to live at prices they can afford.”
Twyford said relationships between the councils, central Government and its agencies were “incredibly positive”.