The site for a proposed housing development at 80 Ngatai Rd, next to Woolworths Bureta Park, in Otūmoetai. Photo / David Hall
The site for a proposed housing development at 80 Ngatai Rd, next to Woolworths Bureta Park, in Otūmoetai. Photo / David Hall
Construction of 89 homes in Tauranga is planned to start at the end of 2025 – eight years after the developer purchased the land.
A mix of two and three-bedroom homes is planned for the 1.42-hectare site at 80 Ngatai Rd in Otūmoetai, next to Woolworths Bureta Park, to help reduce the city’s housing shortfall.
Each home will have a dedicated car park and bicycle parking area.
Resource consent has been lodged with Tauranga City Council for the two-storey development.
One local business says the development site is in the “perfect area”, with a school, supermarket and Tauranga CBD nearby. A neighbour also supported it because “everybody needs a roof over their head”.
Wickham said the 89 new homes would be delivered in an area zoned for high-density housing and would help reduce the housing shortfall in Tauranga.
She said the site was within walking distance of amenities including a supermarket, dairy, takeaway shops and cafes. It was also close to schools, childcare facilities, churches and local shopping centres.
A bus stop was within walking distance that provided direct routes to Tauranga’s city centre. The site also had existing supporting infrastructure capacity, she said.
The site for a proposed housing development at 80 Ngatai Rd, next to Woolworths Bureta Park, in Otūmoetai. Photo / David Hall
Asked why it changed from planning 56 to 89 homes, Wickham said the council’s recent zoning of the site to high-density residential through Plan Change 33 provided for multi-storey housing within a walkable catchment of identified commercial centres and up to 16m high.
Plan Change 33 was in response to the Government’s changes to the Resource Management Act that allowed for greater intensification in urban areas.
“Based on this zone, a range of options were investigated, including apartments and three-storeys.”
The proposal included landscaped areas, parking and a landscaped swale area adjoining a public park, she said.
The site for a proposed housing development at 80 Ngatai Rd, next to Woolworths Bureta Park, in Otūmoetai. Photo / David Hall
The land was purchased in 2017, yet Wickham declined to comment on what caused the delay in construction, or the estimated cost of development.
She said it planned to plant about 50 native trees and the trees on the Vale St reserve would remain.
Affected parties notified by council
Council regulatory and compliance general manager Sarah Omundsen said the resource consent application was lodged on June 5 last year.
Omundsen said the proposal was for 89 two-storey dwellings with a maximum building height of between 8.6m and 8.9m. The maximum height allowed in this area was 16m.
She said the site was zoned high-density residential under Plan Change 33.
The purpose of the high-density residential zone introduced through Plan Change 33 was to provide opportunities for “intensive, multi-storey housing within a walkable area of commercial centres”, she said.
Omundsen said it provided for three independent dwellings per site as a permitted activity. Four or more dwellings could be established on a site but required a resource consent.
While there was no upper limit on the number of dwellings that could be applied for, the appropriate level of residential density for site would depend on things such as urban design, engineering and transport matters.
She said the consent would be notified on a limited basis and affected parties had been notified.
