Commissioners cite lack of highway planning
We didn’t plan three or four decades ahead, we were planning a decade ahead Classic Builders director Peter Cooney on Tauranga City growth planning
The letter stated a lack of funding for growth-related infrastructure was “a major concern”, particularly for transport which was under “extreme pressure” and constantly rated as the biggest issue for residents. While the commissioners agreed to address the issue, it was one local government was unable to fund and the letter referred to constraints involving the state highway network.
“There is a concerning lack of forward planning, funding and potentially desire to improve this network which can’t adequately meet all of these needs. This is becoming the significant limitation to growth in
Tauranga.”
The exclusion of second-stage funding for the Takitimu North Link highway had the potential to affect the delivery of more than 2000 new homes in O¯ mokoroa, the letter stated.
The letter also listed nine projects already in progress in zoned development areas including structure planning and rezoning of Te Tumu to the east and Tauriko west, followed by the Keenan Rd and Ohauiti south areas and refreshing the city centre “with a strengthened focus on residential development”.
Work was under way to secure funding through options including the Housing Infrastructure Fund and direct developer funding as means to “proceed at pace” while reducing “the inequitable burden on ratepayers for growth-related investment”.
The Three Waters reform was also noted as creating “significant risk” for many proposed housing develop