Civic leaders from across Hawke's Bay are working on a blueprint to help ensure the region has a bright future amid expected population growth. Photo / NZME
Civic leaders from across Hawke's Bay are working on a blueprint to help ensure the region has a bright future amid expected population growth. Photo / NZME
Civic leaders and planners are working on a blueprint for urban development in Hawke’s Bay over the next 30 years.
Amid projected population growth over the next 24 years – and the associated pressure that could put on current infrastructure – the Napier CityCouncil (NCC), Hastings District Council (HDC) and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) are working on a plan that would ensure the region was “fit for form and function into the future”.
That includes the region’s population topping 200,000 by 2048, with it being an “attractive destination to do business, raise families, and for an increasing proportion of the population, retire”.
And by 2028, almost a fifth of its population is projected to be aged 65 or older.
Stats NZ figures included in the LTP projected the Hastings district population would hit the 100,000 mark – a near-10,000 jump – within the next 15 years, before continuing to expand.
Napier’s current population of 67,500 was also expected to see a similar rate of growth.
The wide-ranging document said the data highlighted “clear and sustained growth” in Hastings and Napier, and underpinned the “importance” of the Future Development Strategy (FDS) being worked on by the HBRC, NCC and HDC.
HBRC policy and regulation general manager Katrina Brunton told Hawke’s Bay Today that given the population projections, future planning was critical and needed to be fully integrated and “incorporate our environment and how we live, work, play, and access everything we need in our region”.
Hawke's Bay's changing population will impact the housing market and need for types of houses to be built. Photo / Jason Oxenham
“There is a wide range of future planning initiatives being done across the region by councils and other interests,” Brunton said.
“The FDS focuses on the Napier/Hastings urban area to create a blueprint for managing urban development over the next 30 years and more.
“Work to date on the FDS has considered all previous growth plans, building on them to ensure planning is fully integrated, all types of growth considered and accounted for, and [that] our region will be fit for form and function into the future.”
The LTP said projections over a rising older population would result in changing housing needs including “smaller, centrally located housing” and an increase in the number of retirement homes being built.
A flow-on need would be an increase in “accessible shared transport options”.
The population growth in the 40-64 age group was expected to be “steady” out to 2048, the report said.
“An ongoing regional stock of family-sized homes will be required in the region, accompanied by good transport networks that continue to facilitate access to education, work, after-school activities, retail and social events.”
The LTP added: “Balancing and servicing these two different housing and transport requirements will present an enduring challenge for the transport system.”
The document added that the multi-council FDS and “investing to support and enable future industry and unlocking land for housing” was critical.
The rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle damage in Hawke's Bay will require additional people. Photo / Neil Reid
“The current housing supply in Hawke’s Bay is somewhat constrained with increasing prices and a competitive rental market. This has been further compounded by Cyclone Gabrielle.
“Based on population forecasts, it is vital that the regional housing supply increases over the coming decades.”
Population growth was expected to include growth in international migration.
“We will need a lot of people and capability to complete the task at hand,” the LTP said.
The HBRC document also noted how Hastings had a “thriving food and wine industry, along with other tourist attractions” which were experiencing “sustained year-on-year growth”.
Orchards are set to have a growing impact on the Hawke's Bay economy. Photo / NZME
The Hastings District currently has a population of 91,900, including 51,500 in the Hastings urban area, 15,200 in Havelock North, 11,000 in Flaxmere, 2090 in Clive, and a further 23,110 in rural areas and settlements.
Further south, in Central Hawke’s Bay, the report said the pip fruit and viticulture sectors were “increasing their presence”.
That was creating jobs and further export products, and increasing production to 1000 trucks a week during harvest over the next five to eight years.
In Takapau, the local freezing works and Ovation’s processing plant provided “vital employment” for residents. The LTP also revealed that “many employees” from Hastings and Napier made the daily commute to work there.
The planning document also listed the average household income in Hawke’s Bay at $132,100 in 2023, $700 shy of the national average.
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience.
