Pāpāmoa's growing population means more demand for infrastructure. Photo / George Novak
Pāpāmoa's growing population means more demand for infrastructure. Photo / George Novak
Some Pāpāmoa ratepayers may end up paying triple the amount of other Tauranga residents to partially fund more than $300 million worth of roading and three waters infrastructure.
It comes as “uncertainty” surrounds other intended funding streams for the work as construction on a new community for about 15,500 peoplefurther east along the Pāpāmoa coast has been delayed again, to at least 2040.
A council meeting on Monday was told delivery of the crucial housing development — discussed for two decades — anytime soon was now considered “nigh-on impossible”.
The council had expected to use the development contributions it would receive from building in Te Tumu, as well as Government three waters funding, to help pay for more than $300m of infrastructure works over 10 years, mainly the Pāpāmoa East Interchange and the Opal Drive Wastewater Pump Station.
With Te Tumu delayed, the council was considering a flat targeted rate per property to fund 50 per cent of the infrastructure works instead.
A report presented at the meeting estimated the targeted rate for 2025 would have ratepayers in the “full benefit area” in Pāpāmoa East paying $171.90, in wider Pāpāmoa $114.60, and $57.30 for the rest of Tauranga.
Council manager of city planning and growth Andy Mead told commissioners several challenges meant the Te Tumu Urban Growth Area had “a ring of uncertainty and risk around it”.
These included Māori Land Court matters and election outcome-related questions around government urban growth and freshwater policies, as well as Three Waters Reform legislation.
“Te Tumu is intertwined with investment that needs to occur more imminently to support the existing community and the further growth out there, importantly the Wairakei Town Centre where significant commercial and office, retail development is planned including up to 3000 medium to high-density homes, which are much-needed,” Mead said.
Commissioners were warned that if they did not consider alternative funding streams, it was likely the $300m would escalate to $700m before growth started at Te Tumu. Mead said the ramifications would be significant for Tauranga.
Housing at Pāpāmoa comes to an abrupt end at Te Tumu, which is earmarked for future housing development. Photo / Kiri Gillespie
“It will limit everything we can do across the whole city. Given there are a lot of things we want to do for the community, it makes sense that the whole community should contribute.”
Mead said the delivery of Te Tumu was “continually being pushed into the future”.
The draft Long-term Plan 2024-34 had it starting in 2040.
Mead called Te Tumu a “planning risk”. The land still needed to be zoned for urban development and there had been “several curveballs over the last few years”, Mead said.
Some of the land was Māori-owned and Mead said tangata whenua had “mixed views, at best” of urban development, with some opposition “to be worked through”.
Mead said the council was reviewing the project, including seeking independent and legal advice.
Another issue was access to allow for infrastructure “which needs to go through Māori land”. The council was in negotiation with Te Tumu Kaituna 14 Trust.
Tauranga City Council commission chair Anne Tolley says finding a fair way to fund the work is challenging. Photo / Alex Cairns
Council manager of strategic finance and growth Frazer Smith said costs hitting $700m would create “huge” council debt that would strangle resources and funding for other projects.
“It actually makes the Te Tumu project unaffordable.”
The funding model proposed was based on “those who benefit a bit more, paying a bit more” and this was the fairest option available, he said.
Without the targeted rates, Te Tumu-related council debt could reach $552.24m in 20 years for three waters projects plus $183.15m for transportation.
Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said the works were “essential” but funding them fairly was a challenge.
In the commission’s two-and-a-half years, the council had done a lot of work with the Te Tumu Kaituna 14 Trust to enable the development “but it seems to be getting further and further away”, she said.
“Under the current RMA [Resource Management Act] and NPS [National Policy Standards], it’s become more difficult — let alone under a new RMA — and it seems to be it’s going to be nigh on impossible.
“This funding system is so broken that the ratepayer takes all the risk, underwrites all of the costs, and bears the burden of that … that seems wrong.
Te Tumu is located at the eastern end of Pāpāmoa and includes Māori-owned land. Photo / George Novak
“I don’t think Wellington bureaucrats really understand it. I don’t really think they have a good grasp of what those decisions look like operating on the ground,” she said.
Tolley, a former National Party MP and minister, described uncertainty around Three Waters as “the elephant in the room”.
“We are going into a general election. We will have a change of government … and there could well be a revoking of the Three Waters legislation.”
Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston said Te Tumu plans were being discussed when he returned to Tauranga 21 years ago and it “hasn’t really gone anywhere”.
“It’s a significant risk.”
Commissioners approved the proposal to use targeted rates to help fund the infrastructure works, subject to community consultation through the draft Long-term Plan 2024-34.
Five matters related to future plans for the Te Tumu, Pāpamoa East area remained in the council’s public excluded section.
Proposed Pāpāmoa East, Wairakei, Te Tumu infrastructure projects
Waters
Main Wairakei Pump Station
Opal Drive Pump Station
Te Okuroa Drive and Pāpāmoa East Interchange roading-related stormwater
Transport
Designations in Pāpāmoa
Sands Ave – Between Pāpāmoa East Interchange and Te Okuroa Drive
Te Okuroa Drive – Sands Ave to Te Tumu
Pāpāmoa East Interchange (land purchase, design, Phases 1-3)
Sands Ave – The Boulevard to Te Okuroa Drive
Intersection – Sands Ave and The Boulevard
The Boulevard – Stevenson Drive to Sands Ave
The Boulevard – Sands Ave to Te Tumu
Wairakei Town Centre Bus Facility
Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.
