The next step towards building 403 new homes in Tauranga is underway. Photo/file
The next step towards building 403 new homes in Tauranga is underway.
Tauranga City Council decided today to recommend to the Building and Construction Minister the establishment of a new special housing area in Greerton, which is proposed to add 71 townhouses and 59 apartments, and another upon conditions in Wairakei (Papamoa East) that would result in about 273 dwellings.
Special housing areas are intended to help bring more housing to the market faster, through a fast-tracked resource consenting process.
The council consulted with neighbouring communities on these proposals in May this year and received written feedback from 32 parties on the Wairakei proposal, and 42 parties on the Greerton proposal.
305 Chadwick Road, Greerton
- The recommended Special Housing sits on the corner of Sherson St and Chadwick Rd, and is currently zoned for industrial development.
- Developer Celt Saxon's proposed development, Finsbury Park, is expected to yield 71 two- and three-bedroom townhouses and a three-level apartment building containing 59 two-bedroom units, designed and priced for the first-home buyer.
- The main concerns expressed by neighbouring residents through the consultation revolved around traffic volumes and parking.
- Although staff assessed that the network can accommodate the proposal, staff will continue to monitor the traffic movements along Chadwick Rd between Sherson St and Cameron Rd. In parallel the council will progress the upgrade of the Cameron Rd/Chadwick Rd intersection, with physical works starting in 2018.
- The council will also work on delivering traffic safety improvements along Cameron Rd between Pooles Rd and Cornwall St.
- A full transportation assessment will also be required through the resource consent process for the proposed development, which will confirm the traffic and parking demand and the impact on the surrounding network.
Golden Sands (southern extension), Wairakei
- The second recommended special housing area sits on land next to developer Bluehaven Holdings Limited's existing Golden Sands development in Wairakei.
- The land was historically zoned as Active Open Space but is no longer required for this purpose and the designation for an active reserve was removed in 2011.
- This land is currently the subject of a rezoning process - Plan Change 25 - which proposes to rezone the land from Active Open Space to Wairakei Residential.
- Plan Change 25 was consulted on end of 2016, with 34 submissions, and was heard before an independent hearings commissioner end of May 2017. The council will receive the commissioner's recommendation in July.
- Should the commissioner's recommendation be not to rezone the land within the proposed SHA to Wairakei Residential as part of Plan Change 25, the council will consider withdrawing its own recommendation to the Minister to consider this special housing area.
- The main concerns expressed through consultation revolved around the perceived overpopulation of the area with a lack of schools and of infrastructure, the small size of sections and the loss of open space.
- The proposed development would provide about 273 new dwellings and would include local purpose reserves and a 1.28ha stormwater reserve. The development would be serviced by both existing and new infrastructure.
- This includes the extension of Te Okuroa Dr to Livingstone Dr which is scheduled to be completed in June 2018, providing an alternative to Papamoa Beach Rd along with additional water supply by the time the new dwellings are occupied.
- The Ministry of Education also recently announced upcoming investment in Papamoa with $4m confirmed to expand Golden Sands School, and $21m to build a new school.
If approved by the Building and Construction Minister, both special housing areas will provide more housing supply for existing and new residents over the next few years, and help meet the requirements of the Government's National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity.