Ensuring there's enough land for future Bay development

Smart Growth's independent chairman Bill Wasley. PHOTO/FILE

The Smart Growth partnership's strategy to ensure adequate land supply to the sub-region for the next 30 years is being re-focused as planners come to terms with the new requirements under the government's National Policy Statement - Urban Development Strategy, released late last year.

The statement contains new objectives and policies local authorities must give effect to in their resource management decisions on urban land planning.

"The statement is putting some very clear time frames around having that adequate land supply within 10 years and going out further," said Smart Growth's independent chairman Bill Wasley.

"It's really forcing us to ensure that very clear plan development and processes are in place to ensure that the required land supply does occur."

Smart Growth is a partnership between the Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

The three councils provide the funding for Smart Growth, with the budget managed through the tauranga council.

Smart Growth this week brought Massey University demographics expert Professor Paul Spoonley to Tauranga for a seminar aimed at promoting discussion of planning options.

The briefing highlighted the dominance of the sub-region within the wider Bay of Plenty, especially Tauranga city, and predicted strong growth over the next 15 years.

Mr Wasley said that because Smart Growth had been in place for 16 years with a brief to manage the supply of land and supportive infrastructure, the new policy statement very much fitted into what the sub-region was already doing, said Mr Wasley.

"But this is really the first time the government has clearly indicated to all regions what its expectations are in terms of the provision of land for both residential, and for commercial, industrial and business development."

Smart Growth implementation manager Bernie Walsh said the government had indicated to the regions that all land supply policies needed to be reviewed, with more criteria added about ensuring feasibility, and additional compliance requirements.

"We have to keep monitoring the market on a much more regular basis," she said.

"We have been doing that already, but the government is going to assist in future with a whole lot more data and information. They will be much more hands-on about how regions do [land planning]."

Mr Wasley said this year was expected to involve intensive information gathering, with the implementation of the new policy requirements beginning to be rolled out from next year. It was unclear at this stage whether there were any resource implications in meeting the new requirements, he said.