“Significant changes” ahead for Tauranga‘s CBD

An artist’s impression of the waterfront Taumata Kahawai transformation. Image: Supplied/TCC.

Revitalisation of Tauranga's city centre is 'absolutely critical” for New Zealand's fifth largest city and the council has released a plan to ensure it.

Tauranga City Council adopted the City Centre Action and Investment Plan 2022-2032 at a council meeting on Monday.

It aimed to guide rejuvenation and investment prioritisation in the city centre that had seen empty shops and low visitors for a number of years.

The plan included the key actions the council would take with its partners and the community over the next 10 years to achieve its longstanding vision: ‘Te Rapunga Ora ki Te Papa – a great place to live, work, learn and play'.
Commission Chair Anne Tolley said revitalisation of the city centre was 'absolutely critical” for the fastest growing city in the country.

'It's important that we have a cohesive centre for this great city,” said Tolley.

The plan would see eight different precincts developed based on what was currently in place between Otamataha and the Elms at the head of Te Papa peninsula, through to Third Avenue.

These included a cultural and historical precinct, sport and events, retail and commercial, waterfront and Taumata Kahawai and the $304 million Te Manawataki o Te Papa civic precinct.

Funding for the investments was from a mix of commercial, government and the council.

The commercial sector was expected to invest $1.5 billion in apartments and commercial buildings, a new $180 million courthouse was also being built and funded by the government and the council would fund $150m of the civic precinct.

In the next ten years around 600 new dwellings are expected to be built, there would be 5000 more tertiary students and 25 per cent more people working in the city centre, according to the plan.

Commission Chair Anne Tolley. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

Tolley said it would be interesting to see how the community reacted to the plan because there were some 'quite significant” changes proposed to the city centre.

'First of all, we are focusing on people and that's a change from the last 50 years where city centres have been developed around cars.”

'We're no longer a small town, we are a big city,” she said

'We need to create great spaces and places for people to come and shop and sit and chat and take part in events and be entertained.

'So this is quite a major change to the proposal for the centre of Tauranga City.”

Commissioner Stephen Selwood said when the commissioners first came to the city it was 'very focused” on 'managing costs down” and didn't have a vision for what it wanted to be.

'The inevitable result of constantly managing costs down is that you undermine confidence, you undermine investment, you end up with a city that's full of [buildings] to let and to lease,” he said.

'That's what we saw when we first came here.”

A concept design of a new waterfront boardwalk planned for completion at the end of 2023. Image: Supplied/TCC.

Selwood said part of the commission's mission was to assist council staff to lift the vision of the city.

'To lift that vision beyond keeping rates low, to investing in the city, to catch up on its growth, to address the underfunding of the past, and to set a vision for the future.”

He said there had been 'plan after plan after plan” for the city and went the community was consulted with, they said they were 'over plans and consultation” and wanted them 'just get on and do something”.

Selwood said that's what the plan was about and it was 'great to see a plan that is linked to actions and investment”.

'The overarching strategy here is the right one. I think it's going to be great for the city.”

Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston took time to acknowledge the businesses, particularly retail, that continue to operate 'in quite a challenging environment”.

'Over time, hopefully, retail will start to emerge again like it used to be,” said Rolleston.

He reminisced about his time spent in the city centre with his grandparents as child, where they would park the car then spend the day walking around.

'From a movement perspective, I'm quite heartened about it being focused on people.

'What we are trying to create here in the city is an experience for people to move, to experience, [and] interact throughout the various parts of the city.”

The plan had a focus on pedestrianising areas of the city with improved public transport and greater walking and cycleway connections.

Commissioner Bill Wasley mirrored Selwood's comments about the range of plans and strategies for the city, that he said 'may have got to stage one if we were lucky” before the focus shifted to something else.

Commissioner Bill Wasley. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

Wasley was 'really pleased” to see the plans being referred to as refresh for the city because it was not 'starting from scratch”.

'A whole lot of good work has been undertaken, not just by previous councils and staff, but also this community,” he said.

Wasley said he liked the vison because it talked about being the heart of the sub-region.

'It's well beyond the role of this city centre, not just within the boundaries of Tauranga City Council, but also the wider Western Bay of Plenty sub region.”

In a statement after the meeting council city development and partnerships general manager Gareth Wallis said the plan built on previous strategies and plans that the community provided input on.

'Together, we can help restore our city's heart and make it a more inclusive, sustainable and welcoming place where we and future generations will want to live, work, learn and play,” he said.

Some of the plans were already underway such as Te Manawataki o Te Papa and a business case for a stadium in the Tauranga Domain was under development.

The plan was developed with council partners including mana whenua, the University of Waikato and economic development agency Priority One, said Wallis.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.

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17 comments

Awesome

Posted on 15-08-2022 17:05 | By AJSommerville

So great to see, finally moving into the 1990s one day we will fully catch up


With Respect ....

Posted on 15-08-2022 18:08 | By Equality

.... can I request that Sunlive - when quoting long maori names - that the meaning of these names is also shown in English? The maori language would be familiar to only a small portion of actual maori readers. Indeed only a small percentage of maori in NZ can actually speak their own language.


Time will tell

Posted on 15-08-2022 18:14 | By waiknot

There is no doubt the current city centre is a sad sight. It’s debatable whether the new $150M court house will flood the city centre with desirable customers, time will tell. Current retail premises owners need to be targeted for contribution as I’m sure they will once again ratchet up rent demands to reflect improvements made. I still believe an additional large anchor retailer is required in the town centre. The new Farmers complex is a great start.


Alright

Posted on 15-08-2022 19:29 | By Merlin

Alright for those who choose to live in Apartments etc in the central City but I suspect those living not in the centre will still prefer to go to Bayfair and The Crossing. Parking will still be an issue.


Courthouse

Posted on 15-08-2022 19:39 | By Slim Shady

Hahaha. They still keep rattling on about a $180m Courthouse as though that’s a good thing. Tauranga can boast the bestest Courthouse in the land! Hahaha


Have they moved the train?

Posted on 15-08-2022 20:13 | By Cynical Me

5 years and they will need another plan. No money to pay for this one. Why would most people go there? People went there before when there were wharves for the kids to fish from. The Shopping ain't ever going to be again. I see the dreamers at Uni Waikato were involved. Well, let's hope they stay around long enough to help pay the rates. Will the county ratepayers be asked to front up with cash? Many of them drive our roads at no cost.


Controversial topics

Posted on 15-08-2022 21:11 | By Sturba

Does this include killing Tauranga CBD? And sending people to the outskirts like tauriko, bayfair, mount, greerton and Fraser cove and others?


Hmmm

Posted on 15-08-2022 21:16 | By Let's get real

Hip-hip-hooray, we are the fifth largest city in New Zealand and we've got around 150,000 residents... That's not even the size of a village in most parts of the world. Even Singapore (which would fit into the area of lake Taupo) has a population of around 5 Million. Once again we are seeing a form of Napoleon (or little man) syndrome and trying to look important to nobody at any cost. Who really cares about the city centre other than those self-important snobs that love spending other peoples money on their own pet projects in a popularity contest.


Old plan

Posted on 15-08-2022 21:54 | By Johnney

Remember seeing this plan a few years ago. So going to turn the car park into green space without any other parking alternatives. Looks pretty with a waka on the water. Is that the new ferry service?


Morning Laugh

Posted on 16-08-2022 06:21 | By Hugh Janis

This has split my sides. I can just imagine a waka peacefully floating by the tidal steps. Who comes up with this stuff?


@ Equality

Posted on 16-08-2022 12:24 | By Yadick

Good comment. Totally agree with you. These names are getting ridiculous and mean absolutely nothing whatsoever to the majority and to overseas visitors. The ploy to get them in there appears to be to give it as a gift.


Tom Ranger

Posted on 16-08-2022 12:35 | By Tom Ranger

I have seen full Waka practising some morning's on the way to work. But this is just throwing money away at a time where austerity should rule...or at least democracy. smh. They don't have a mandate.


What a laugh.

Posted on 16-08-2022 12:36 | By katikatinudist

Diddo Also .... can I request that Sunlive - when quoting long maori names - that the meaning of these names is also shown in English? And how about you finish the roads in and out of Tauranga first then look at wasting money for a $180 million courthouse etc!!!!!!


One step at a time

Posted on 16-08-2022 13:06 | By alta.vanblerk

Let's get behind the new plans and move on. Negativity will get us nowhere.


Welcome to Tauranga!

Posted on 16-08-2022 13:26 | By morepork

We designed it for people, not for cars. Never thought that people might need cars to get to it, or around it, because we expected you to use the Buffalo Buses. Why are you so uncooperative? Look at the beautiful waterfront and the restaurants... Take some time, walk around... until your meter expires... oh, they've gone...


A shame

Posted on 16-08-2022 14:20 | By Kancho

The CBD is a crammed area but so much to cram into it and access really poor. I was impressed with another seaside town that moved it's council offices , depots, university and stadium Civic buildings out of the centre. This leaves the seaside vibe and apartments with space..The place with lots of seaside is called the Gold coast. Why not build out of town with better access. Downtown can remain an entertainment area . I guess moving out of town would be less costly too. Still spending is ok with other people's money huh


@Kancho

Posted on 20-08-2022 14:19 | By morepork

A replica of the Gold Coast is the very LAST thing I would want to see here. But I think your points are good and the best way to get ideas flowing is by discussion. We could certainly move some of the civic facilities out of the CBD. Sadly, you are also correct about the lack of respect for Other People's Money. (BTW, I enjoy reading your good sense here.)


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