Public views sought on development in Papamoa for 15,500 more residents

The area of the proposed Te Tumu development is in green. Image/Tauranga City Council

Community open days will be held this week to find out what the public thinks about a proposed development that could increase Papamoa East's population by 15,500 people.

The proposed Te Tumu development would stretch over 5.5 kilometres of coastal land, extending Papamoa East to the Kaituna River.

Infrastructure needed to be installed before house builds could start on the land around 2021, Tauranga City Council said. New amenities including schools, cycleways and sports fields were also planned for the development.

The council and developers will host open days on Wednesday, September 13 and Thursday, September 14, between 3pm and 7pm at the Papamoa Surf Lifesaving Club.

Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said the vision was for Te Tumu to be a coastal community that celebrated its significant cultural history and environmental richness.

"The proposed development will respect the Kaituna River, wetland and landscape areas and preserve the area's natural character, while building a sustainable community around the planned town centre, employment precincts, schools, sports fields, walkways and cycleways," Mr Brownless said.

"We are also committed to embracing and protecting Te Tumu's history, as a place of great historic and cultural wealth both for tangata whenua and European settlers."

Tauranga City Council said they were working with landowners, iwi and hapu to collaboratively decide what the future of Te Tumu could look like.

To date, the council had completed a strategic planning study of the area, identifying the main opportunities, constraints and situational context of developing at Te Tumu.

The council said the study determined there were "no fatal flaws in continuing to progress towards structure planning within Te Tumu" and opening up the growth area for development around 2021.

Mr Brownless said what this could look like would be devised through more detailed research and planning, along with ongoing community engagement.

"It is important that we get the planning right, together. The success of this project will require a good understanding of what outcomes we want to achieve for the community and landowners, and what the community and landowners want.

"The upcoming open days are the start of this process, going out to the community and stakeholders to provide information on the project. It's also our chance to gather people's ideas on what they would like to see in the area, and to hear what their concerns may be," he said.

The public feedback would help inform the development of a structure plan for the new urban growth area, and associated City Plan changes before infrastructure could start being built.

Tauranga City Council was being considered for a $60m interest-free loan to build this infrastructure from central Government through the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

Open days

- Wednesday, 13 September, 3pm to 7pm, and
- Thursday, 14 September, 3pm to 7pm
- At the Papamoa Surf Lifesaving Club, 561 Papamoa Beach Road

Council staff will be there to provide information about the project, answer questions and hear the views of people in the community.