More than 400 households from seven Tauranga streets have been asked to come up with thousands of dollars within weeks if they want to keep their streets sealed with asphalt.

Pāpāmoa’s Montego Drive, Santa Barbara Drive, Santa Monica Drive, Sovereign Drive, The Gardens Drive and Checketts Place, and Mount Maunganui street Denny Hulme Drive, are scheduled for Tauranga City Council (TCC) roadworks in January.

The asphalt, or hotmix, streets are set to be resurfaced with cheaper chipseal under the council’s 14-year-old “fit-for-purpose” policy for low-volume streets.

After criticism, the council last month agreed to let ratepayers self-fund the price difference to have their streets resealed with asphalt.

It has sent letters to 435 impacted property owners in the 2025/26 resealing programme about this option.

Denny Hulme Drive resident Sue Dunbar said when she initially read the letter, emailed at 4.45pm on December 5, she thought it was a scam.

A call to the council confirmed it was real. The letter asked that every Denny Hulme Drive property owner agree by December 19 whether they want asphalt and, if so, pay $4089 each by January 12.

“Who has a spare $4000? In January, let alone any time of year,” Dunbar said.

“The council must know that there is no way we will get 100% of the ratepayers in our street agreeing to this ridiculous proposal.

Chipsealing a city street - fresh seal on the left, a black asphalt seal coat in the centre, and the old street surface on the right. The rock will be pressed into the asphalt and excess swept up. Photo / Getty Images

“We’ve got a 94-year-old next door to us and a man who is unwell across the road. Neither of them are interested at all.

“As soon as one person says no, that’s the deal done.”

She said the asphalt on their road appeared in good condition and the only benefit of chipseal seemed to be cost - the council has said it is five times cheaper.

Dunbar was concerned about chipseal being noisier, as cars tended to race on the road.

Timeframe ‘unreasonable’

Santa Barbara Drive resident Les Diggelmann said the timeframe was “so unreasonable” for residents to coordinate and respond.

They were given 10 business days to respond if they wanted asphalt and, if so, 11 business days to pay $2837 per property.

“TCC is fully aware of the cost-of-living crisis at the moment, yet giving residents such a short period of time to come up with the money, especially over this holiday season.”

Santa Barbara Drive and Kokomo Key residents who "strongly object" to planned chipsealing. Photo / Supplied

Denny Hulme Drive street coordinator Graeme Wilson said he believed chipseal would do “an adequate job”.

“It’s an economical solution to a difficult problem that the council is faced with for the foreseeable future.”

He said as long as the chip was laid properly and swept regularly, vehicle noise would subside.

“I will be voting against the asphalt.”

Resident survey

Pāpāmoa Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman Philip Brown said 150 residents responded to its letterbox drop survey, and 149 preferred hotmix over chipseal.

Brown said the consensus was clear: “no chipseal, in capital letters”.

Most respondents were worried chipseal would be messy and increase road noise.

Pāpāmoa Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman Philip Brown. Photo / Andrew Warner

Brown said residents felt shocked by the council’s proposal, describing it as “bullying tactics”.

“They know it’s going to fail because we’ll never get a 100% agreement.”

Of those surveyed, 144 wanted the council to consult residents before deciding to chipseal streets.

‘Understandable frustration’

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford said residents were most concerned about how the issue had been handled, including the short window to decide and pay.

“Many of those who contacted me are pensioners or families who simply cannot meet that kind of deadline.”

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford. Photo / Alex Cairns

Residents were also confused as to why their street was being resealed when it looked fine.

The council had explained its engineering assessments showed early signs of deterioration. Rutherford said that the explanation only worked if it was communicated early and clearly.

“In my view, the communication has not been good enough, and that has created a lot of understandable frustration.”

Nearly $1.5m difference

Council operations and infrastructure acting general manager Mike Seabourne said chipsealing the seven streets would cost $209,200, with the New Zealand Transport Agency paying $106,700 of that.

Property owners would need to pay $1,490,950 to fund the cost difference to asphalt the same streets.

He said per-household costs were between about $2000 and $7000. The council would not share the charge per street for privacy reasons.

Most of the seven streets had a decision deadline of Friday with payment due January 12, but Checketts Place and The Gardens Drive had until January 5 to decide and January 29 to pay.

Council operations and infrastructure general manager, Reneke van Soest, acknowledged the short timeframe.

Van Soest said there was little time between the council’s decision on self-funding and the 2025/26 resurfacing season, with staff having to calculate household costs and set up a payment mechanism.

“Residents must fully fund the cost difference between asphalt and chipseal among themselves and commit to paying the full cost before the scheduled start date of the resurfacing.”

She said more notice would be given to the affected property owners of the 2026/27 resurfacing season.

Works are expected to start on January 19.

Ayla Yeoman is a journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Communications and Politics & International Relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.