Tauranga Golf Club and Tauranga Racecourse as viewed from air in 2008. Photo / Jimmy Joe
Tauranga City Council has decided to delay hearing submissions on the future of the Tauranga Racecourse Reserve after community concerns were raised.
The Greerton Maarawaewae Study is aimed at repurposing 85 hectares of Tauranga Racecourse Reserve with options including the racecourse removal to allow the provision for a future hospital or recreational reserve.
An enhanced status quo option, which would retain the racecourse track, had also been offered.
Tauranga City Council put the three choices out for feedback in July and August after two other rounds of consultation involving several proposed options, including the three latest.
The latest round drew 897 submissions.
The majority of these - 548 - favoured keeping the racecourse with an enhanced status quo.
Previously, the council had been vocal in its preference for the health and recreation option to allow for a facility such as a new hospital - 201 people supported this in the feedback.
Another 128 supported plans to turn the area into a central park recreational reserve.
Five people did not choose an option and 15 submissions did not fall into either category.
Removing the racecourse from the area was included in two of the three latest options - and most options in the previous consultation - but the council had not established where the racecourse would be moved to.
Details around the potential health facility were also unclear as this was a decision Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty (formerly the Bay of Plenty District Health Board) was yet to determine.
Council hearings to formally hear key submissions were expected to be held in November, followed by deliberations, with a decision expected in December but in a council statement released today, it stated the need to delay hearing the submissions until early 2023.
The statement said issues raised included the need for clarification regarding sites for a potential relocation of the racecourse and equestrian facilities, opening up the golf course for increased community use and safe access to the Kōpurererua Valley, plus clarifying the potential need for health services on the site.
In the statement, city commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said it was vital that "these issues are fully explored before a decision is made so that we can make a fair and robust recommendation to the Crown around the future use of the Tauranga Racecourse Reserve".
Christine Jones, council general manager of strategy, growth and governance, said there had been "some good korero" with people, particularly at community events.
The submissions received "have enabled council to get a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities of each option".
"The information has emphasised the need for further investigation and we will undertake that work so that its outcomes can be considered as part of the deliberations process," Jones said.
The delay is not the first challenge to have surfaced since the project was launched in October 2021 in partnership with the Government's housing arm Kāinga Ora.
The study proposed housing, a park and a transport hub as initial ideas for feedback.
In April, mana whenua Ngai Tamarawaho threatened legal action if the council pursued an original prospect of filling the area with housing, to help address the city's housing shortage.
During its Treaty of Waitangi negotiations, the hapu agreed the city could retain the reserve, as they were its original owners, for the purpose of recreational use. Turning it into a housing development would be a breach of this agreement.
Ngai Tamarawaho representative and Racing Tauranga board member Buddy Mikaere said he has been "pleasantly surprised" at the support for keeping the racecourse.
"It has been quite enlightening. There are obviously a lot of people who want to keep the green recreational space and are willing to say so," Mikaere said.
Asked why he thought this was, Mikaere referred to the racecourse's green space which was popular with the community as well as the conference facilities at the site which was "just about fully booked".
"There's all sorts of events going on all of the time. It's certainly well used and well respected and well liked as a community asset," he said.
An enhanced status quo would retain the racecourse and equestrian facilities based at the site. It could also host a sports pavilion, community centre and connections to Kōpurererua Valley.