Tauranga City Council is being asked to spend $350,000 investigating planning issues arising in Welcome Bay and Ohauiti.
These suburbs were planned in the 1990s, and development of them is now substantially complete.
Their current population is about 15,000 and is projected to grow by only another 2000-3000 people, says a staff report discussed by the City Transformation Committee this week.
The report says the need for a study is being driven by a lack of education options, especially intermediate and secondary schooling, as well as primary schooling in Ohauiti; incomplete and aging council community facilities; a lack of retail and commercial provision to meet local needs and support local trip containment, especially a supermarket for the wider catchment; and a local shopping centre in Ohauiti.
The bulk of the estimated project cost of $350,000 is made up of $200,000 of transport investigations, modelling and option development, and $100,000 for the three waters investigation (water supply, wastewater, and stormwater) including modelling and option development. The commercial/retail and social infrastructure investigations are estimated to cost $50,000.
An internal submission has been made to the 2017/18 Annual Plan to provide funding for the project, as it cannot be undertaken within existing budgets.
The committee is recommending the council approve the study.
2 comments
Welcome Bay
Posted on 10-06-2017 11:01 | By surfsup
As a resident and ratepayer in Welcome Bay I can save the council at least $200.000 by telling them the transport situation sucks, and will do unless they complete the Turret road section . Do we need a supermarket, maybe but that will bring more problems with delivery trucks etc causing even more chaos on the clogged roads. Surely not every suburb needs to be self-contained with retail shops, a Full post office service would be great, more than one atm machine would also be good. If business minded people see a potential market in welcome bay then let them do due diligence and invest in whatever they think will make them money.
I tend to agree...
Posted on 11-06-2017 17:17 | By groutby
....with comments from surfsup, I have read this article several times now and still cannot see what the "actual" need for it is, yes post primary schooling is perhaps inadequate and worthy of debate, yes the shopping centre is tired to say the least and maybe in need of a revamp and it simply goes without saying that the Turret Road issue will be ongoing until that is resolved. If the area was designed for more residents than it actually has at the moment, than I assume the "three waters" hardware is already more or less in place...so...maybe the spend is largely questions that do not need "investigation"...In event of any doubt, maybe simply put a questionaire online for Welcome Bay/Ohauiti residents may wish to participate in....unless the "study" is actually a cunning plan to stall further development until well after "conclusions are known"...what say you?
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