Sports park spared from proposed supermarket development

A section of Waipuna Park's historic walnut grove was threatened by Welcome Bay's proposed supermarket development. It was on the route of cross-country championships. Photo/file

Waipuna Park has been dropped from contention as a potential location for a supermarket to service Welcome Bay.

Strong public opposition has emerged to the sports grounds in Kaitemako Rd being altered to accommodate a supermarket.

A total of 1937 people responded to a council survey that asked: Do you support a supermarket being built in Welcome Bay on council-owned land.

Two-thirds agreed they did support putting a supermarket on land owned by the council, leaving a third opposed.

Nearly 80 per cent of opponents argued they did not want to see a supermarket sited on a reserve. The other common themes were that people did not think a supermarket was required in the area or they opposed the council getting involved in a commercial business.

Fourteen per cent of those who answered yes to the question were "strongly opposed" to using Waipuna Park and the potential impact on the 100-year-old walnut grove if a sports field was realigned.

An unspecified number of supporters said they preferred redevelopment of the existing shopping centre prior to considering council-owned land. No feedback was received from shopping centre retailers through the community engagement process.

Sports Bay of Plenty acknowledged the need for a supermarket but had concerns with the proposed locations because any development would have a "major impact on the limited green space in Welcome Bay".

If Waipuna Park was decreased in size for a supermarket it would not only impact on the 15 sports users but the ability of Tauranga to cater for events like the AIMS Games and many other sports tournaments, it said.

"There are only a small amount of parks elsewhere which can hold the same capacity, resulting in the city potentially losing such events."

A cultural report from Ngai Te Ahi, Ngati He and Ngati Pukenga said the three sites were significant waahi tapu. The iwi and hapu said they could not consider any development without full engagement and participation within Welcome Bay.

However, they submitted a list of concerns, with Kaitimako/Waipuna Park easily heading the list followed by Waitaha Reserve.

The cultural report said Waiorakei/Owens Park was a traditional food gathering site for Ngati He but the wetlands and river had diminished with development. "With the amount of available space and under-utilised reserve, this appears to be the most logical location."

The option recommended by council staff to next Tuesday's council meeting was to endorse the option to progress with consideration of Waitaha Reserve and Owens Park, and to remove Waipuna Park.

If the council backed this option, it would require further analysis of the two reserves. Staff would firstly come back to the council on how they intended to obtain "credible and accurate concept information from supermarket providers regarding how a potential development would look, along with the impact on any existing facilities and amenity uses".
At this point, there would still be no commitment from the council to dispose of any council-owned land.

"Further analysis will still be required and presented to the committee to understand the impact of a development prior to a decision to dispose or lease council-owned land."

The other options for next Tuesday were to stop the investigation and advocate for the use of privately owned land, or to simply discontinue the investigation.

There had been no "substantial progress with securing private landholdings for a supermarket.

Welcome Bay Primary School's response to Owens Park as a supermarket site
- Safety implications at peak school drop-off and pick-up times
- Supermarket better located central to the existing shopping centre
- Develop community facilities on Owens Park
Source: Tauranga City Council