A claimed shortage of industrial land in Tauranga is being challenged by lawyer Keith Catran who is calling for a change of direction on SmartGrowth's industrial land policy.

In recently presented submissions, Keith says not only is SmartGrowth making an unsupported assumption about an industrial land shortage, but its proposed way of dealing with it by ‘spot zoning' undoes the whole concept of planning and future zoning.

'One of the critical purposes of good planning is to give landowners and users certainty as to the future and as to their rights and obligations,” says Keith.

'It sounds in property values and ordered development including the supply of infrastructure, traffic connectivity, and services, water and wastewater.”

Decision making along the lines of recommending spot zoning is the antithesis of planning, says Keith. By proposing spot zoning as a planning mechanism, SmartGrowth undoes at a stroke the whole concept of planning and future zoning, and opens the door to piecemeal future development.

'It will subvert the respect and validity that SmartGrowth has had in the past,” says Keith.

'It would remove the ability of other developers, land users or councils to rely on SmartGrowth in their planning and market analysis. Instead it promotes the speculative purchase of rural land and its loss to industrial urban uses.”

The issue is a McDermott Consultants report of September 2012 titled ‘Industrial Land Research', that Keith says claims without evidence there's a shortage of ‘quality' industrial land suitable for high loadings.

'I struggled to find any evidence of a quantitative investigation or assessment of the anticipated demand for such high load bearing uses to warrant that assertion,” says Keith.

'The only evidence is a single piece of anecdotal advice from an unattributed source about two investors having trouble finding such a site. One was apparently put off more by the cost of development contributions than by land quality constraints.”

The reference is very similar to a recent press release by Bob Clarkson to promote his wish to re-zone his land at Tauriko, says Keith.

'Given the direct interest involved here, I suggest some higher level of evidence that there is a problem is required,” says Keith.

'My concern is that in the absence of any proper assessment of the likely demand and timing for such land, and by completely ignoring evidence as to the suitability of land for such uses already available from a well-researched and independent source, the current report nevertheless comes to the conclusion that there is likely to be a shortage of suitable land and that Bob Clarkson's Tauriko 4 land is a suitable answer to this problem.

'Neither proposition seems to be established by suitable evidence.”

The report's main findings show there is a slow-down in demand for industrial land associated with a slowdown in both population and the general economy, and the current SmartGrowth proposals identify areas of industrial land sufficient to meet demand out to 2051.

At least six large ‘heavy load' industrial buildings have been built on existing industrial land in and around Tauranga in the last five years. Two are near the port, one the airport and three in or near the Tauriko Business Estate. Keith thinks two were built by Bob Clarkson.

'So such demand as there is for these uses seems to have found sites when required.”

A review by Beca Carter of potential industrial land prepared for the Western Bay of Plenty District Council in 2008, investigated 39 sites for industrial use. The assessment includes a wide range of criteria which were scored on a weighted basis.

Among the criteria is load bearing capacity and geotechnical suitability. Bob Clarkson's land is included in the assessment, identified in the Beca report as Tauriko 4, says Keith. Of the 39 sites reviewed, Tauriko 4 received the third lowest score overall and only Matapihi and some Papamoa sites are worse.

In respect of its geotechnical restraints Tauriko 4 scored a 2 on a five point scale with one being poor.

The Beca report addressed the fact that some of the early developed land in the TBE has settlement constraints but there are seven hectares in stage 2 and a further 16.5 ha in the TBE without those problems and a possible 46.5ha further out.

'It may be that the issue is one of timing rather than sufficiency, but this information is not referred to in the current report,” says Keith.

'SmartGrowth has always attracted support and respect both locally and elsewhere because it was principles led and evidence based. The co-operative effort it is part of shows in the regions ability to be heard in national corridors.

'Its urban growth limits plans are now incorporated in the formal planning regime through the Regional Policy Statement so the need for that integrity and robustness to be maintained is more crucial. That is particularly so when such planning concepts are subject to attack from market players.”

If SmartGrowth considers there may be a potential problem with the availability of particularly high load bearing land within the immediate time frame, it should require evidence, beyond mere anecdote to establish the nature and scale of that need and then carry out proper evidence based assessment of how where and when it can be addressed, says Keith.