Tauranga business, property and iwi leaders have formed a task force in an effort to address the growth and leadership issues the city is facing.
More than 70 concerned property developers and investors came together last Thursday at the Urban Taskforce launch event at the University of Waikato Tauranga campus.
UTF Chair Scott Adams, who is the managing director of Carrus group, says it's clear that all meeting attendees are "gravely concerned" about the lack of growth in Tauranga.
At the event, Scott told the attendees the region currently lacks leadership at local authority level.
He told them the community has been disappointed in the lack of action needed, by the Council, for some time.
'Unless the Tauranga community takes a more active role as a city we will continue to defer on investment and fail to respond to our growth opportunities.
'As a group of concerned leaders within the local community and property industry we need to act collaboratively and decisively, and support the community not just with the thinking, but with the delivery of key infrastructure and housing projects."
UTF members include Scott Adams from Carrus, Steve Cutfield from Classic Group, Simon Collett from Holland Beckett Law, Scott McKenzie from PMG Funds, Morgan Jones from Veros, Buddy Mikaere from Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga and Peter McCawe from Hawkins.
Scott says the group initially met up at the end of last year to discuss a goal they all shared - strong leadership, advocacy and positive change for the betterment of the city.
The group will soon meet with the newly announced commissioners taking over Tauranga City Council to discuss their plan going ahead, says Scott.
'We need to fill the leadership void, work collaboratively with local authorities and create a united front for the future of our District,” he says.
The key focus areas for UTF in 2021 are as follows:
Growth - Enabling land supply for residential and commercial growth.
Governance and Leadership - Advocate for connected thinking, connected planning, connected governance and strong leadership.
Liveability - Investment in quality spaces and cycle and transport networks to better connect our city.
Vision - Develop a cohesive vision for Tauranga as a city and make it happen.
Tauranga CBD - Invest in civic amenities and support private sector commitment and investment to develop a CBD that is vibrant and that we are proud of.
Funding and Investment - Urgently attract central government and Waka Kotahi (NZTA) funding to Tauranga.
7 comments
Opposites don't attract.
Posted on 10-02-2021 07:07 | By Kancho
The group are concerned with lack of growth in Tauranga. ?! I get the feeling this is astoundingly different to what ratepayers are saying. We have a long time ago out grown infrastructure and this growth has not paid for itself. Ratepayers have been left with huge debt and overstretched amenities in all areas. Crazy stuff talking of growth without developers and commercial interests not paying enough and ratepayers not getting basic essential services only lumbered with more rates and charges . Smartgrowth bad joke
Rates to be highest in country
Posted on 10-02-2021 09:29 | By jed
My rates are astoundingly high, recent increases have made it more expensive here than Auckland or Hamilton. If rates increased with inflation since I bought my house 12 years ago, my rates should be 1/3 of what they are. And council recently said they want rates 50% higher in 3 year. That with the increase in value it is reasonably likely I will have another 100% increase in 4 or 5 years.
Hmmm
Posted on 10-02-2021 09:38 | By Let's get real
When are we going to get some realistic plans that start with the foundations of growing a city. SERVICES... We have talk fests all around the country about building more housing, increasing migration and expanding the economy and little if any discussion about supporting the growth by focusing on the need for QUALITY support services. We have a tiny city by international standards, and yet we can still experience flooding when it rains, the whole of the city grinds to a halt if we have a roading issue in the wrong place, peoples journeys to work are getting longer because the traffic doesn't flow, at some point in time we'll experience water supply issues because the old service pipes don't meet the increased demands. But let's continue building more housing to keep the developers, the city growth cheerleaders and the government happy.
RESPONSES
Posted on 10-02-2021 10:46 | By peanuts9
To "let's get real" many of us already have water issues due to infilling. Pressure is often reduced to a trickle at peak times. Local councillor doesn't live here, so says it's not his problem. we also have massive traffic problems, so bad it is unsafe to cross some roads but that is not the fault of the council, it is the selfish drivers. So many one car, one person. To Jed, the rates are not the highest in the country, they are quite low in many areas. 10 years ago, in another city, I was paying a lot more than I do now for a property which is still only half the value of my present one.
Peanuts9
Posted on 10-02-2021 13:03 | By Let's get real
Are you defending the interests of a commercial group in building a bigger city on top of the current infrastructure...? The fact that there are bad drivers speeding between traffic delays, will only increase until smooth traffic flow is established by the traffic management "professionals", whose main concern is preventing accidents by slowing or stopping traffic movement. Public transport should be free until a regular patronage is established or scrapped if the public are unwilling to use it in preference for private cars. Whilst not all areas of the city are covered by public transport, you will need to accept that your neighbours need to get to work in a car and stupidity reigns.
City leaders?
Posted on 10-02-2021 15:10 | By Shadow1
Who called these people city leaders? Well I guess they did. To me they mostly seem to be a group who are completely absorbed in their own self interest. Sure we’re running out of sub-dividable land. Nothing the ‘developers’ have done has made houses more affordable or the infrastructure more efficient. It’s past time that developers paid for the downstream effects of their subdivisions. They will have to add the costs to the section prices. Some years ago Central Government required councils to build a fund for the replacement of aging infrastructure, at the same time they allowed the councils to borrow that money from themselves at low interest rates for other projects! Guess what happened? They borrowed it all! Now they have that debt to repay as well. They must retire some of that debt.
Don't need growth
Posted on 11-02-2021 18:58 | By Accountable
These self confessed leaders are a bunch of rich and extremely selfish people. If they want to do a development they pay for every financial aspect of that development from the bare land through to the sewage and water plants and should not expect the ratepayers to fund anything of that development. The city has doubled in size in 25 years and the results of this so called progress are a CBD that is in tatters, roading incapable of handling the traffic, water and sewage struggling to keep up and the ratepayers are deeper and deeper in debt. Increasing rates is only benefitting the developer as they profit from the progress these rate increases allow them. It is all downhill for the ratepayer who will never gain from progress. The ratepayers are happy without progress and that should now be the direction the city should be heading, no progress neede
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