Tauranga City Council Commission Chair Anne Tolley is welcoming a government announcement that two city Infrastructure Acceleration Fund proposals have reached the final stage of the funding process.

The Council's infrastructure funding applications sought $80 million to support development in Tauriko West and $67 million for the Te Papa peninsula.

The proposals will now undergo due diligence and negotiation of funding and housing outcome agreements.

'Yesterday's announcement by Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities is positive news for Tauranga because the projects under consideration would assist the delivery of thousands of new homes for our fast-growing city,” says Tolley.

'The selection of these proposals for further consideration and negotiation of development milestones, conditions and development fair share contributions clearly signals the Government's understanding of our housing issues and our shared determination to get more homes built as quickly as possible.

'If successful, the IAF Tauriko funding would go towards transport, water and wastewater infrastructure projects which would enable us to accelerate the first stage of development, involving around 2,000 dwellings.

'This would include northern and southern connection improvements, Cambridge Road intersection improvements and bus connection upgrades, as well as water and wastewater systems to serve the first and second stages of the new housing development area.”

The Te Papa proposal involves funding for water supply and stormwater system improvements to support housing intensification, plus a number of transport projects.

These include stage 2 of the Cameron Road 'building our future” upgrade between 17^th Avenue and Tauriko; active transport (walking and cycling) and public transport upgrades in Greerton, Gate Pa, the hospital zone and the city centre periphery; and construction of a Gate Pa/Merivale walking and cycling bridge.

'It's estimated that the Te Papa peninsula has the potential to accommodate up to 10,000 additional dwellings and 15,000 more people over the next 30 years and these projects would help make that a reality.

'In the longer-term, development in Tauriko West could also see close to 4000 new dwellings built, which would go a long way towards bridging the serious housing deficit in Tauranga.

'If funding is approved, we anticipate that housing delivery could begin by 2025 and then scale-up from 2029, with full delivery of the stage one development completed by 2034.”