The $130m new Farmers building will have retail on the bottom and apartments on top. Graphic / Supplied
The $130m new Farmers building will have retail on the bottom and apartments on top. Graphic / Supplied
Plans for a $20 million redevelopment of Elizabeth St may be scaled back significantly, with the project involving less greenery than initially proposed.
It was part of a streetscaping andinfrastructure upgrade project timed to coincide with the under-construction $130m Farmers redevelopment on the corner with Devonport Rd.
A concept design showing half of Elizabeth St turned into a 'linear park' for pedestrians and cyclists. Image / Tauranga City Council
But with time running out before the first phase of the Farmers development is due to open in April next year, the council is now considering three reduced-scope options, which could see the linear park idea delayed or even ditched entirely.
The three new work-in-progress concepts were presented to a meeting of the Projects, Operations and Services Committee yesterday.
Urban spaces team leader Doug Spittle told the meeting that a safe and adequate transport system for the area around Farmers was the minimum that had to be done.
He was confident this "do minimum" option could be completed in time for the opening, but whether any further work could be finished in time was less certain.
"It's a real challenge to get even the minimum amount of work done," Spittle said.
The option would include narrowing the road and adding speed bumps to create a slower speed environment of around 30km/h, as well as improving accessways.
The council could elect to treat that as stage one of the project, with further improvements - such as the park - to come later.
"You can make streets that cars move in, fast, or you can make streets that people want to hang around in and spend money. This project is supposed to be about the latter," Spittle said.
Any work post the Farmers opening, however, could cause significant disruption to transport in the CBD.
Budgets for each option were not yet established but there is $1.65 million specifically assigned to the Elizabeth St project in the next two financial years.
Concept C. Graphic / Supplied
Chief executive Marty Grenfell said the council was in a situation now where time and finance forced a decision.
The total number of car parks in the area would not be known until the final design was chosen but all designs had a loss of on-street parking and Elizabeth St could lose 15 spaces.
Spittle said this was counteracted by Farmers' 317 parks, 125 of which would be for customers.
Councillors raised concerns about the budget, timing, disruption and risk to the council's reputation from changes to the project.
Councillor Andrew Hollis said he liked the linear park idea but was concerned about the budget given everything else the council had on.
Concept A. Graphic / Supplied
Councillor John Robson said the timing left the council "almost at a situation where the only thing we can deliver is the do minimum option in time for Farmers opening".
Councillor Larry Baldock said the reputation of the council was under threat as commitments had been made to developers.
"It disturbs me greatly that we are starting to talk about our contribution and budgetary cuts."
He said not delivering on their commitments would hold "very severe" consequences.
Council Heidi Hughes said the project would cause a "significant disruption" and it would be ideal to get the council's work complete alongside Farmers and not open "a beautiful new building" only to then "disrupt the streets around it".
Concept B. Graphic / Supplied
The council voted to allow staff to keep developing the options and consult with the public and business owners in the area before reporting back in April with more information, including costs.
Asked after the meeting for reaction to the potential scaling down of the project, Downtown Tauranga chairman Brian Berry said his personal view was the lack of streetscaping elements such as the pedestrian-friendly area would not have an impact on the trading of business but would change the aesthetic of the street.
"It is a shame it won't be completed as the streetscaping of that area would complement the Farmers redevelopment really well.
"Traffic flows will probably be better without the streetscaping, it will essentially flow as it does now."
Elizabeth Properties Limited, the development company behind the Farmers project, did not have a comment at this stage.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said the council needed to ensure it had community support for the final design.
New concepts under development
Concept A: roundabout intersections: improvements to the public realm above minimum standard and roundabouts at all key intersections. Concept B: signalised intersections: improvements to the public realm above a minimum standard and signalises the key intersections of Elizabeth/Devonport and Devonport/First. Concept C: Minimum option: reinstates the public realm to a minimum standard that is compatible with the Farmers development. Source: Tauranga City Council
