Te Mania growing apace
Development will help to meet Te Puke’s future housing needs We’ve been thinking mid to late this year as interest rates come back, sales will increase.
While a housing development that will see more than 350 new houses in Te Puke continues apace, there is ongoing work to try to ensure the town’s future housing needs are met.
Flowerday Homes’ Te Mania development on three former kiwifruit orchards in Dunlop Rd began in 2022. By Christmas 2023, there were people living in 53 homes.
Stages 1 and 2 are complete and there are around 20 more homes to be built and handed over in stage 3 which will finish the development of one of the former orchards.
“We are about to start earthworks on stage 4, which is the 69 Whitehead block and a continuation of Dunlop Rd that will eventually comprise about another 125 houses,” says Flowerday Homes director Rik Flowerday.
The initial consent for the next stage included several townhouses.
“The market’s not quite ready for townhouses, so we changed the consent to the types of houses already in there, so it’s just a continuation of that.”
Stage 4 will comprise 41 lots that will shortly be released to the market.
“They are mainly three bed, one or two bathrooms with single or double garages.”
Once the second orchard is completed, work will move onto the third, with the development likely to create 350 to 370 houses in total.
“So we are going to be there for the next few years, depending on how quickly the market moves.”
Rik says the demand for housing exists, but interest rates and securing finance have proved to be barriers for some potential buyers.
“We’ve been thinking mid to late this year as interest rates come back, sales will increase.”
The development has been master planned by Isthmus, an awardwinning team specialising in integrating residential, commercial and public areas.
“Because we master planned it all, it’s got a nice look and feel. It’s a real community that is being built there which is something we are immensely proud of.
“If you go out there any time during the day there’s people pushing prams around, people out in the street — it’s got a really nice feel about it. There are a lot of young families, it’s definitely family oriented.
“Schools are right there and there’s easy access to back into Pa¯ pa¯ moa, the
Mount, Tauranga and Te Puke itself.”
He says he does not know how many of those already living at Te Mania are first home buyers, “but it’s targeted at the first home buyer end of the market.”
Future plans include a commercial precinct and a childcare centre.
Te Puke’s population is projected to grow from the 10,200 it is now to around 13,000 people in 10 years’ time.
Consents exist for a further 526 houses, which includes those already consented but not yet built as part of the Te Mania development. Seven applications, totalling 152 lots, are being processed by Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
“If the developments already consented plus the 152 lots across seven applications that are currently
being processed are all developed, that will go a good way to meeting the housing needs of 13,000 people,” says Ariell King, the council’s strategic adviser: legislative reform and special projects.
“Te Puke is also influenced by what happens in the wider Western Bay. Overall, the Western Bay is facing a significant housing shortfall — there are not enough houses now, and without new housing development, the shortfall will get bigger over the next 10 years.”
The Western Bay of Plenty District Council is in the process of producing a spatial plan for Te Puke.
“One of the reasons that council is doing a spatial plan for Te Puke is to understand what the population growth of the town and wider area is likely to be over the next 30 years, and what land might be needed for housing and business development to support that population.
“The spatial plan is about identifying the places, spaces and actions that could facilitate a range of housing options, great places to work, safe parks to visit, easy access to services and education and modern community facilities to enjoy — all while protecting and growing what people love about their town.
“We will be involving the community from the very beginning of this planning process. This ko¯rero with the community will begin later this year, to find out what’s important to people, what needs improving and what they want to stay the same.”
Te Puke Economic Development Group managing director Mark Boyle says the Te Mania development is a strong indicator of demand linked to economic growth in the Te Puke area.
“The fact that there are further developments planned for the Te Puke township goes a long way to providing a solution to what is a regional or national problem,” he says.
“Our proximity at the edge of a major city and strong links to other towns and cities of the Bay of Plenty is really shining through, because it’s an ideal place to live.”
Mark says it is equally important to continue to look for ways to have smaller housing developments in areas to the east of Te Puke.