Luke Kirkness: Pāpāmoa is a nice enough suburb but it could be better

Pāpāmoa Beach. Photo / George Novak

OPINION

Pāpāmoa is the largest suburb in Tauranga and it's the fastest-growing too.

Its main drawcard is the amazing white sand beach which stretches for more than a dozen kilometres along the Pacific Ocean coastline.

The beach is a hotspot for sunbathers, dog walkers, surfers, boogie boarders, tuatua collectors, and much more.

The suburb owes its existence to that beach.

It must have been fantastic living there before the small coastal community became overwhelmed by a wave of urban development.

Farmland has been replaced by those new subdivisions, retirement villages, schools, roads and shopping centres.

The Bay of Plenty reminds me a lot of the Gold Coast: Good weather, beautiful coastline, and a decent chunk of money within the community.

Pāpāmoa boasts all of the above and people have been flocking there in droves recently.

According to the 2006 census, the Pāpāmoa population was 16,176. At the latest census in 2018, it had grown to 25,272.

I'm sure a large portion of that growth is those who live in one of Pāpāmoa's many retirement villages.

It seems construction is starting on a new village each month out there.

New subdivisions also line the coastline in Pāpāmoa, subdivisions which all appear to me to have been built using similar blueprints, and the houses seem to get closer together the further east you go, into the newest areas.

I do understand the importance and dire need of those new subdivisions, as much as I dislike their rather bland looks.

I'm sure it's probably been talked about before but I would have thought an apartment building or two would be perfect for Pāpāmoa.

There are subdivisions aplenty in Pāpāmoa. Photo / George Novak

While Pāpāmoa isn't that far away from Tauranga CBD, the amount of time it takes to travel to and from there is jaw-dropping.

Getting around the suburb itself is easy enough but I'd hate to think about how much time commuters spend stuck on State Highway 2 or State Highway 29A each week.

Still, I lived in Pāpāmoa East near Motiti Reserve for a couple of months and it was fantastic.

The house was right on the water and enjoyed spectacular views out over the ocean, which was also a lot of fun to play in.

Over summer, I'd race home after work, chuck on a pair of togs and body surf to my heart's content.

Despite this, I'm not sure I would recommend Pāpāmoa to a friend.

It's a nice enough place but from my perspective, there is not much going on other than the beach - something it has been coasting on for long enough.

As it continues to grow, sprawling eastwards, it's in dire need of some investments to liven it up.

How about a community pool, for one? A destination playground? Something for the teens? It has a lovely walking and cycling path along the stormwater reserves, but overall the suburb desperately lacks real community green spaces - and sportsfields are also under increasing pressure.

A 24-hour accident and emergency centre has also long been on the wish list.

Think about it this way: The more Pāpāmoa has, the less people in Pāpāmoa need to leave the suburb and clog up the city's arterial routes trying to get somewhere else.

That would be a win for the whole city.