Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley. Photo / George Novak
Buildings of up to six storeys could be on the cards around Tauranga's town centres under a plan to promote higher-density housing.
At a council committee meeting on Monday, commissioners took a step toward identifying where higher-density housing could be located.
Under the proposed plan, existing commercial centres within thecity boundary would be categorised into town centres, local centres and neighbourhood centres based on their size, facilities and land use. This would inform how high the surrounding buildings could be.
The proposed plan change comes on the back of new Government legislation - the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and other Matters) Amendment Act - aimed at helping grow New Zealand cities and provide more housing in high-growth areas. It is up to councils to decide how centres are classified.
The council's team leader of city planning Janine Speedy presented the plan for identifying the centres to the Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee.
Those wishing to build above the limits would need to apply for restricted discretionary resource consent.
Speedy said current examples of neighbourhood centres were Omanu and the Tay St shops, local centres were Brookfield shopping centre and Tweed St, while town centres were the likes of Greerton and Bethlehem.
Speedy said there was no differentiation between the different kinds of centres, giving the example of the Mount Maunganui city centre and Cherrywood shopping centre, which are zoned the same.
She said the council could "play a role in terms of defining" what the different centres were under the legislation.
The next steps will involve looking strategically at each location before proposing an outline for higher-density residential zones, and building heights.
Commissioner Stephen Selwood. Photo / Andrew Warner
Commissioner Stephen Selwood was concerned that being too focused on centres could "miss the importance of corridors" such as Cameron Rd.
"I would've thought we could go high-rise right along that corridor.
"That's the kind of flavour that is missing for me ... the missing piece is that wider connectivity to employment zones."
He said being able to easily access employment was "mission-critical" for housing development and "fundamental to getting it right for the future".
"That is the most important piece of work for us to do."
Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley was concerned about the development of different centres in the southwest of Tauranga.
"We're being led by the developers, not by our city planning.
"We [the committee] see this as really important, that we decide, and good planning decides where that town centre for that southwest development happens, not relying on that developer to come in and then you're stuck with what you've got."
The committee agreed to add a requirement that "consideration be given to the potential identification of a town centre in the Western/Southern corridors that considers the development opportunities and catchments".
Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston. Photo / George Novak
Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston said the community needed to be able to provide feedback about where the town centres were currently, and where there was room for development.
He stressed the need to help the community understand why intensification was important.
Speedy told him feedback would influence the outcomes of the centres and their classification.
She said community feedback so far had agreed "we need to go up", but urged the council to make sure "where you go up is appropriate".
Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times after the meeting, Speedy confirmed the committee "endorsed the methodology for the assessment of centres, and the proposed building heights around different types of centre".
"This is only the first step – the next is to look at each centre strategically before confirming the centres' classification, and drawing up maps of the proposed zones for increased residential density."
Speedy said these maps, once created, would be used to consult the community.
A large-scale change to the Tauranga City Plan to enable more housing supply would be shared with the community for feedback in late August.
In a statement released after the meeting, Tolley said enabling residential development around urban centres made sense.
"It's about creating more opportunities for people to live within walking distance of where they shop, access services and catch the bus.
"This will help create more housing, with more choice in the types of homes people can live in, while supporting the reduction in car dependency. It's all part of enabling a more sustainable, people-friendly city."
She said residential areas along the Cameron Rd corridor could see buildings of up to eight storeys.
"The Te Papa peninsula is a prime location for higher housing density. It has what it takes to provide connected neighbourhoods where people can live, learn, work and play, without having to take the car out."
The eight-storey allowance for the Cameron Rd corridor is allowed under the council's Te Papa Spatial Plan, which it completed in 2020.
The proposed plan change will align with the outcomes of the Ōtūmoetai Spatial Plan, currently under development.
The plan change builds on the council's Plan Change 26 - Housing Choice, which was put on hold after the new Government legislation was introduced.
