Open days are being held at the Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club this week discussing the proposed new housing development at Te Tumu.

The public is invited to learn more about Te Tumu and share thoughts about the proposed development during open days on Wednesday and Thursday, September 13 and 14, 3pm to 7pm at the Papamoa Surf Lifesaving Club.

'It is important that we get the planning right, together. The success of this project will require a good understanding of what outcomes we want to achieve for the community and landowners, and what the community and landowners want,” says Mayor Greg Brownless.

'The upcoming open days are the start of this process, going out to the community and stakeholders to provide information on the project. It's also our chance to gather people's ideas on what they would like to see in the area, and to hear what their concerns may be.”

The community input will help inform the development of a structure plan for the new urban growth area, and associated City Plan changes.

Infrastructure would then need to be delivered to the boundary of the development, where houses could start being built by landowners around 2021. Tauranga City Council is in the running to receive a $60m interest-free loan from central government through the Housing Infrastructure Fund to build this infrastructure.

Council staff be on hand at the open days to provide information about the project, answer questions and gather input from the community.

The proposed Te Tumu development in Papamoa East, could provide new housing for more than 15,500 people – as well as new amenities including schools, cycleways and sports fields.

Tauranga has experienced considerable growth over the past 30 years, and is projected to continue growing. Te Tumu, which stretches over 5.5km of coastal land, is one of seven western Bay of Plenty urban development areas identified by SmartGrowth to cater for the growth.

Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless says the vision is for Te Tumu to be a coastal community that celebrates its significant cultural history and environmental richness.

'The proposed development will respect the Kaituna River, wetland and landscape areas and preserve the area's natural character, while building a sustainable community around the planned town centre, employment precincts, schools, sports fields, walkways and cycleways, says Greg.

'We are also committed to embracing and protecting Te Tumu's history, as a place of great historic and cultural wealth both for tangata whenua and European settlers.”

Tauranga City Council is currently working with landowners, iwi and hapu to collaboratively decide what the future of Te Tumu might look like.

To date, Council has completed a strategic planning study of the area, identifying the main opportunities, constraints and situational context of developing at Te Tumu. The study determined there are no fatal flaws in continuing to progress towards structure planning within Te Tumu and opening up the growth area for development around 2021.

More information on the project can be found here.