Western Bay councils have pitched $3 billion worth of growth projects for Government investment to offset the impact of Covid-19, the Bay of Plenty Times can reveal.
According to Tauranga City Council documents, on April 6 SmartGrowth submitted a package of "urban growth transformational projects" at the request of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
SmartGrowth is a collective of the Tauranga City, Western Bay District and Bay of Plenty Regional councils and tangata whenua.
A week later, on April 14, Tauranga City Council submitted a separate application for stimulus funding for more than $1b worth projects that could be "shovel ready" in six to 12 months, in response to a request from the Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
The Western Bay's council also sought about $120 million from the CIP.
Tauranga council documents said the housing ministry invited high-growth councils to submit infrastructure projects needed to ensure the supply of land for housing and employment did not slow due to the pandemic.
Smartgrowth's submission focused on water, wastewater, stormwater, multimodal transport and amenity infrastructure to support both greenfield developments and residential intensification.
The major areas for greenfield development in Tauranga are Tauriko West and Te Tumu in Pāpāmoa East, but both are years behind schedule, contributing to a lack of developable land in the city.
Te Papa Peninsula - the city spine from the CBD to Greerton - has been identified as the first area for intensification.
The majority of the projects submitted related to Tauranga City, but some were not council-led projects, such as work on the NZ Transport Agency-owned state highway network.
The Smartgrowth submission has yet to be made public beyond brief mentions in meeting documents.
The lack of public information was raised in a Tauranga City Council meeting on Tuesday by councillor Jako Abrie.
Councillor John Robson asked if the submission documents could be made public.
Growth general manager Christine Jones said some commercially sensitive information about specific projects would need to be redacted but the rest could be public.
The Bay of Plenty Times had requested the application but it was not provided in time for deadline yesterday.
Abrie told the Bay of Plenty Times he raised it because it was a good news story the council had yet to tell publicly but that seemed to have been overlooked amid other urgent Covid-19 response work.
Smartgrowth independent chairman Bill Wasley said the submission was being prepared for release.
He said Government investment was vital to support the sub-regional community and economy.
Projects submitted were focused on the subregion's key corridors - east, west, north and central.
The package was designed to align with the direction to date of SmartGrowth's Urban Form and Transport Initiative.
The initiative was set up last year to map out 50 to 100 years of growth in the Western Bay sub-region and make a case for long-term Government infrastructure investment.
It was due to make a milestone release of its preferred option by the end of this month. Wasley said the timeline had not formally changed but was being reviewed.
Western Bay of Plenty District mayor Garry Webber said his council backed the submission.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said the ministry had initially invited submissions from high growth councils as part of its ongoing work to identify priority developments and form urban growth partnerships.
Subsequently, the Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) process was announced, which the councils were also engaging with.
The projects in both applications would be considered through the CIP, which would then provide recommendations to ministers.
The longer-term projects that did not meet the CIP shovel-ready criteria would still form part of the ministry's urban growth partnerships.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
TECT offers $350k for pool planning
The Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust (TECT) has offered to match a $350,000 proposed Tauranga City Council contribution towards planning a nearly $100m pool development.
The project, first pitched by council facilities arm Bay Venues in 2017, is in two parts - first, a $75m redevelopment of the Memorial Park pool and indoor sporting facility and second a $23.7m visitor leisure facility including a wellness and fitness centre, spa and hot pools.
The council estimated the sub-regional level project would create 347 direct jobs.
The first part of the project was among the top priorities in more than $1b worth of projects the council identified that could be "shovel-ready" within six months.
The projects were submitted last week for central Government Covid-19 economic stimulus funding consideration via the Crown Infrastructure Partners. The second part was priority two.
TECT chairman Bill Holland said the funder recognised the council's tight financial position, had only been made worse by the loss of millions in revenue due to Covid-19.
He said TECT was eager to help the council with amenity projects that could be viewed as "nice-to-haves" and might be a lower priority for funding than other vital infrastructure.
He said the council approached TECT with the match-funding proposal to go towards planning work on the project. TECT agreed, hoping its $350,000 contribution could help secure $75m in Government funding.
In a council meeting on Tuesday, staff recommended elected members sign off the council's $350,000 contribution.
Senior council staff said the project would need to happen eventually, so the work the $350,000 would fund would not go to waste even if the Government did not back it. Chief executive Marty Grenfell said it would also demonstrate the council was serious about the project.
A majority of elected members, however, wanted to wait a month to make the decision, at which point there would hopefully be an indication of whether the bid for Government support would be successful.
Holland told the Bay of Plenty Times, however, TECT's offer was tied to the Government funding, rather than the project itself.
A council spokesman said the council learned after the meeting the offer was contingent on the project making it through the first cut of Government evaluation process. The council's decision to let the matter lie on the table was appropriate.
The airport is built on land confiscated by the Crown in 1866.