Regional and national context

Tauriko for Tomorrow forms part of a wider growth management strategy which focuses on making land available for housing across Tauranga and the western Bay of Plenty through the development of new communities.

In addition, Tauranga City Council is required to progress and deliver on the requirements of central government policy, such as the National Policy Statement on Urban Development. It requires councils to provide adequate opportunities for land to be developed to meet community, business and housing needs. Tauriko West will, in part, provide for these central government requirements.

SmartGrowth

SmartGrowth is responsible for the vision, direction and long-term planning for population and business growth in Tauranga City and the western Bay of Plenty region.

Launched in 2002, the SmartGrowth partnership provides a unified vision and sets the strategic direction for growth, infrastructure planning and development across the western Bay of Plenty.

The SmartGrowth Strategy forms an implementation plan focused on six key outcomes:

  1. Visionary leadership and collaboration
  2. Sustaining and improving the environment
  3. Building community
  4. Growing a sustainable economy
  5. Recognising cultural identity and change
  6. Integrated planning

Taking into account a range of environmental, social, economic and cultural matters, the strategy identifies opportunities for building our community.

Ensuring a balanced approach to growth management is an important part of planning for the future and connecting the spaces and places that create communities where we live, learn, work and play. Not just now, but in the future.

The Strategy is focused on implementation and future thinking. It has a 50-year horizon with a particular focus on the next 20 years.

Find out more about SmartGrowth.

Creating Connected Centres 

In 2020, SmartGrowth partners have agreed the Connected Centres Programme through the Urban Form and Transport Initiative (UFTI) programme business case. This sets out an integrated land use and transport programme and delivery plan to cater for urban and rural growth in the western Bay of Plenty over the next 30 to 70 years.

Find out more about the Urban Form and Transport Initiative.

Growing up and out

The Connected Centres vision is about growing up and out. It highlights the need to build more closer-knit communities to make it easier for people to get to where they need to go.

It is a settlement pattern that contributes to more affordable housing, and more competitive land and job markets through up and out future development.

The supporting transport improvements will enable greater access, increase transport choice and improve safety, while also maintaining important freight access, particularly to the Port of Tauranga.

Growing our future communities will involve:

  • Achieving a balance between greenfield development and intensification as the best way to house our growing population
  • Public transport, walkways, and cycleways to connect existing and new urban centres so people can easily move around to work, learn and play
  • Transport ‘hubs’ to help people change bus services safely and efficiently to reach their destination and provide places to park bikes and e-scooters.

Our Transport Plan

The Western Bay Transport System Plan (TSP) aims to provide a connected transport system to offer people real transport choices so they can leave their cars at home.

The TSP supports the Connected Centres programme and identifies the right investments needed to provide a safe, sustainable, and more reliable transport system.

To deliver the Connected Centres vision, the TSP will:

  • Support quality urban growth by improving access to social and economic opportunities like schools, jobs, GP clinics and shops by different transport modes (walking, cycling, buses, vehicles)
  • Increase use of public transport, cycling and walking to help reduce transport-related greenhouse gas emissions
  • Maintain or improve travel time predictability for freight via road and rail
  • Contribute to an outcome where no one is killed or seriously injured in road crashes.

Find out more about the Transport System Plan.

Integration with Te Papa Peninsula

Creating a new community in Tauriko West integrates with plans for greater housing choice, access to amenities and a wider range of transport options in the Te Papa peninsula (Future-proofing Cameron Road).

The most significant transformation will take place in the Central Corridor (from Tauranga Crossing to Mount Maunganui via Cameron Road and including the Takitimu Drive/SH36 intersection) with a high frequency public transport network, high density housing (apartments, three to four story houses and duplexes) along the corridor particularly around Tauranga Hospital and Greerton.

At one end will be the employment and retail centre of Tauriko and Tauranga Crossing, at the other end a revitalised city centre with a mix of apartment living and city lifestyle, university, and office space. This will be supported by walking and cycling corridors to enable personal mobility throughout the area. Stage 1 of the Cameron Road upgrade is currently under construction.

Find out more about plans for Te Papa peninsula.

National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD 2020)

The NPS-UD 2020 requires councils to plan well for growth and ensure a well-functioning urban environment for all people, communities and future generations.

This includes:

  • ensuring urban development occurs in a way that takes into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (te Tiriti o Waitangi)
  • ensuring that plans make room for growth both ‘up’ and ‘out’, and that rules are not unnecessarily constraining growth
  • developing, monitoring and maintaining an evidence base about demand, supply and prices for housing and land to inform planning decisions
  • aligning and coordinating planning across urban areas.

The NPS-UD 2020 contains objectives and policies that councils must give effect to in their resource management decisions.

Tauriko West is one of the key greenfield developments in the next 30 years, necessary to help meet statutory NPS-UD capacity requirements.

Find out more about the National Policy Statement on Urban Development.

The Regional Policy Statement

The Bay of Plenty Regional Policy Statement (RPS) provides a framework for sustainably managing our region’s natural and physical resources. The RPS provides direction to local councils for managing our land, air, fresh and coastal water, infrastructure and biodiversity, and issues of significance to iwi. This includes guidance for growth management in the western Bay of Plenty, and setting urban limits for residential area expansion.

Under the Resource Management Act 1991 the region’s city and district councils are required to give effect to the RPS when developing their district or city plans, and when considering applications for resource consent.

A change to the RPS has been made, meaning Tauriko West is now marked as being within the current urban limit.

The urban limit is a line in the RPS that shows which areas urban development can occur within. Guided by the SmartGrowth Strategy for the western Bay of Plenty, urban limits help the region to grow at a controlled and consistent rate and inform planning for expansion of urban areas.

Find out more about the Regional Policy Statement.

Sign up for our email updates

Throughout the process we will be going out to the community and stakeholders to provide information and gather ideas and feedback. This will include open days and workshops, surveys and regular updates via mail, email and on this website.

info@taurikofortomorrow.co.nz