Tauranga has been identified as a potential development project area by Kāinga Ora as the city's housing needs continue to increase.

The appraisal comes following a request by Tauranga City Council commissioners, who admit they had 'found it difficult” to make substantive progress to enable development in the area since they were appointed by Nanaia Mahuta in February 2021.

The city's western corridor, which incorporates parts of Tauriko and Pyes Pā, has been identified as the second such assessment after Porirua's northern growth area.

The Western Bay of Plenty sub-region, which includes the city of Tauranga, has been one of New Zealand's fastest growing urban areas in recent years, says a Kāinga Ora spokesperson.

'As the population has increased, the demand for housing has exceeded supply, pushing up property prices and increasing the need for new urban development areas,” they say.

An engagement and consultation process will consider the suitability of using urban development tools for the project area. Once that process is complete, Kāinga Ora will then recommend to Ministers whether a Specified Development Project should be established.

An additional 43,000 homes are needed in the region by 2048 according to the SmartGrowth Partnership, which includes local and regional councils, tangata whenua and central government.

Tauranga City Council commissioner Stephen Selwood. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

Tauranga City Council commissioner Stephen Selwood says despite the city's western corridor being identified for urban development, the commissioners have found advancing the process 'difficult”.

'The size and scale of the planned growth, necessary investment in infrastructure and complexity of structure planning and rezoning has slowed development,” he says.

'Tauranga has a significant housing gap and is the only metropolitan area in New Zealand which cannot comply with the housing supply requirements set-out in the Government's National Policy Statement on Urban Development.”

Latest projections show that over the next 10 years, Tauranga will be between 7000-9000 homes short of the number it needs.

'To deliver housing and urban development at the pace and scale required to meet the needs of our community, it is critical that the planning, infrastructure and funding for urban development are agreed upfront.

"A Specified Development Project would provide a process to deliver that integrated planning in the short term, while still allowing the opportunity to future-proof the western corridor for envisaged growth over the medium and long term."

The proposed project area under assessment includes Tauriko West, Keenan Road and Tauriko Business Estate's Lower Belk Road extension – three existing urban growth areas which are at various stages of planning and development.

Priority One, the Western Bay of Plenty region's economic development organisation, says they expect a Specified Development Project will bring about further growth in what they call a 'painfully slow” process.

'Our poor housing and rental affordability is the main barrier to the long term growth and future wellbeing of our community,” says CEO Nigel Tutt.

Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt. Photo: Salina Galvan Photography.

'The region needs to throw everything we can at this to address it urgently.

'The current process for urban development in areas like this is painfully slow, but we expect that the Specified Development Project will enable dramatically improved progress in the western corridor.”

Kāinga Ora general manager urban planning and design, Katja Lietz, says initial consideration suggests the western corridor can benefit from the agency's urban development tools to facilitate development.

'Specified Development Projects can provide a way for Kāinga Ora to enable transformational, complex urban development,” she says.

'This is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and our focus during the assessment process will be to determine whether these tools are the right ones to support a well-planned urban development that meets the needs of the community.”

The announcement follows the approval of plans for an $84 million rejuvenation of Tauranga's waterfront, which were announced this month, as well as investment of $1.5 billion in the city's central business district over the next eight years.

Tauranga City Council also committed to a new $300 million civic precinct in May this year.

-Dan Sheridan/Stuff.