New housing must be done well
Focus needs to be on infrastructure, says council
Taupō has grown significantly over the last decade, with the trend set to continue over the coming years, according to Taupō District Council.
Although concern about infrastructure was an understandable viewpoint, closing the door on new arrivals wasn’t possible, said Taupō District Council’s infrastructure manager, Roger Stokes.
“If you stop growth dead, you’d still have the demand factor for people to come [here] and if you made it too hard the prices would go through the roof and that particularly impacts families wanting to make their homes here.”
The focus should be on ensuring good infrastructure like water and roads, as well as commodities like reserves and access to shops and schools.
Transport connections, particu- larly for bikes and pedestrians, are also important considerations, he said.
He recognised the economic importance of building activity, too.
“Building and associated activity is a large chunk of the economy in our district and employs builders, plumbers, earthmovers, roofers and others.
“If you’re building 250 sections and houses per year along with the associated community and commercial infrastructure, then that construction activity is worth over $200 million annually in this district and that gives you an idea of how many jobs are supported.”
The costs of installing infrastructure are borne by the developers through a development contribution levy paid to Council.
Developers are also required to ringfence a portion of land for the development of reserves, with some of the levy money used to build paths and play equipment.
John Penny of Penny Homes said towns need to take a considered approach to growth.
Development contributions have risen from $6000 per section to about $30,000 over the last 25 years, something Penny describes as a “necessary evil”.
Still, developers should take pride in producing liveable communities, he said.
“Here at Kokomea Park we’ve got two parks; and with the northern and southern gullies we’ve paid for all the concreting of the footpaths here so that they can be used for cyclists and they’re quite a nice amenity to have. We’ve planted them out and put a lot of native plants in there – it’s very much a value-add.
“We also paid for the [pedestrian] underpass under Lake Terrace and we’ve had really good feedback on that, linking the subdivision to the lake. It’s been a huge asset and the kids are safe, they don’t have to cross Lake Terrace.”