Village life in Chadwick Rd in Greerton could become a thing of the past as Tauranga city grows. Photo / George Novak
Village life in Chadwick Rd in Greerton could become a thing of the past as Tauranga city grows. Photo / George Novak
Greerton Village is expected to be transformed into Tauranga's future city centre featuring high-rise apartments and a potential hospital if the city council gets its way.
Yesterday, Tauranga City Council released its preferred three options for what it wants to happen with the 85-hectare piece of land that encompasses theTauranga Racecourse, Tauranga Golf Club and Tauranga Equestrian Sports Association. None include housing despite the same council admitting to a drastic housing crisis within the past year.
However, increased housing intensification in Greerton is expected to help temper this.
Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said the three options shortlisted were amended versions of what had already been put out for consultation, taking into account the community's feedback.
The omission of housing was a direct result of the lack of community support for it, whereas retaining green and open spaces was "critical", she said.
Despite the absence of housing options for the reserve land, Greerton was expected to experience greater housing intensification in the years to come; adding even more weight to the need to retain the reserve's green space, she said.
The final decision will come after another round of renewed consultation on the matter.
"This is a big piece of the city. It's an iconic piece of the city. It's just really important, we felt that we give the community every opportunity to think about the future and what that might look like," Tolley said.
The project, known as the Greerton Maarawaewae Study, is aimed at helping shape the suburb to become a future city centre comprising higher density housing, greater travel access and options and potentially greater amenities through the proposed health facility and green space area.
Greerton was likely to end up with eight-storey apartment blocks as part of greater housing density aimed at helping address Tauranga's ballooning population growth.
"People who have come from big cities have known or got used to big high-rise apartment buildings and quite intensive living but for those of us that live in normal New Zealand suburbia, that's a completely different concept.
"This is a really critical decision for the city."
The quiet, single-storey streets of Greerton, pictured in 2003, are likely to get busier and higher as Tauranga's population grows. Photo / John Borren
The three options are:
- Health and Recreation; a mixture of a health precinct, parklands, sportsfields, golf, and connections to Kopurererua Valley. This is the council's preferred option.
- Central Park; a large green parkland, sportsfields, community spaces, golf and connections to Kopurererua Valley
- Enhanced status quo; racecourse, golf, equestrian, sportsfields and connections to Kopurererua Valley
Should the proposed health facility fall over, the council's next preference would be to revert to the Central Park option, Tolley said.
The council was told in November 2021 that the then-District Health Board was interested in using the reserve land as a site for potential health services. It has since been revealed the board, now known as Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty, has just 12-and-a-half years to either upgrade its existing site or rebuild due to "significant seismic issues".
In a statement released yesterday, Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty chief executive Pete Chandler said it needed to explore opportunities for future-proofing the current health facilities and services in response to the growing population and seismic issues at the existing Cameron Rd site.
"Identifying a new public hospital location and providing better transport access to serve the growing Tauranga and Western Bay area would ensure that planning for the future of the health system is not constrained to the current site."
Chandler said locating a new hospital on the reserve land could also potentially open up the existing hospital campus site for medium to high-density housing.
In a September letter to Environment Minister David Parker, commissioners said Tauranga was heading for a shortfall of 1119 homes by 2025 and could hit 5000 within 30 years if other council plans were delayed.
The commissioners said the council could not meet its housing expectations, called the situation "critical", and asked for the Government help to deliver new homes.
The final three options are available on the council's website and people can have their say from today until August 29.
Submissions will be heard by the commissioners at a series of hearings in November, with a final decision on the reserve land expected in December.
