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Nigel Tutt Chief Executive of Priority One |
There are a couple of important consultations open at the moment across our city, where public input is valuable and where there is a strong economic viewpoint.
Firstly, Tauranga City Council has asked for public input into the re-classification of land on Sulphur Point for use by The University of Waikato's Coastal Marine Field Station. This proposal is not a new one, it was put forward a few years ago but unfortunately at the time it was pushed back by government, who disagreed with the region's viewpoint.
Important work
The university's Coastal Marine Field Station does some very important work for the region. It was instrumental in our response to the Rena disaster and continues to carry out a large body of work on the health of the harbour. Recently, there's been a large programme of work undertaken around use of algae to provide environmental benefit.
From an economic perspective it is critical that we have high quality research centres if we seek to build a more valuable and environmentally sustainable local economy in the future – and the health of our harbour is of vital importance. New Zealand has an opportunity to utilise the marine environment to further develop sustainable production in future, so research is really important.
The Coastal Marine Field Station has outgrown its current space and has some fairly specific needs –being close to a source of clean water is an obvious one. The spot proposed in Sulphur Point is the only viable and available one that I have seen in the city. The station itself is not large and will not make a significant impact on our valuable park space.
Transport infrastructure
The second public consultation underway is about Tauriko for Tomorrow. The consultation outlines future growth of this area and largely focusses on the transport infrastructure required.
This is an important area for the region. There is a large amount of housing capacity available, and this will be in close proximity to existing and future job growth in the industrial estate. From a wider transport system perspective, we need housing to be located close to jobs.
With the current housing crisis, we need to pull out all stops to deliver capacity in this area – but that is unable to happen without sufficient short-term transport links. It is a straightforward investment in a complicated housing puzzle.
Longer term is where it gets more interesting, with proposals tabled for a larger transport fix for State Highway 29's connection with this area. This area is currently subject to congestion for residents and is a key link to NZ's largest port. We believe it is essential the longer term work is simply got on with; we cannot afford to delay this critical investment longer.
For infrastructure in a growing and important part of NZ, it is important we act sooner rather than later. Please take the time to have your say on both important city issues.
See: https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/our-future/projects-and-open-consultations
And: https://www.taurikofortomorrow.co.nz/
