Pāpāmoa planting stoush: Commission admits 'not everyone gets what they want'

Graham Brook, Royal Palm Beach Yacht Club secretary, pictured in 2018 sailing at Te Ara o Wairākei. Photo / George Novak

Pāpāmoa residents say they have spent six years fighting controversial Tauranga City Council plans to plant a section of stormwater reserve for "nothing".

But city commissioners say they have made a compromise and the end result could be a "fantastic amenity".

The commission decided in a meeting yesterday to restart pond-edge planting in the Palm Beach West area of Te Ara o Wairākei corridor, known as Area 2 of the landscaping project.

It followed a years-long stoush with residents who opposed the plans and accused the council of ignoring them. The council suspended planting in May 2020.

The commission voted on an amended plan, which included changes made after community feedback, as opposed to remaining with the status quo or stopping planting at all.

But for Friends of Palm Beach Reserve representative Noel Hall, the changes were not enough and residents were "aggrieved".

Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley. Photo / George Novak

"The residents seem to have gotten the raw end of the deal," he said.

Hall said residents have been concerned about the planting plans since 2016 and had had minimal consultation from the council despite submitting their concerns and opposition.

"It's almost as if all of this work over the last six years has been for nothing."

He said in the late 1990s many residents bought their properties that backed onto the grassy banks and ponds which they had maintained and looked after since, creating a personal connection with the area.

"Then all of a sudden a landscaping report comes out... they've [residents] never been involved as part of the discussion leading up to it."

The plan aimed to encourage ecological enhancement, restore cultural recognition and activity in the area, and provide shade and food for local wildlife.

However, Hall said a lack of maintenance of existing plantings was already "a huge problem" so residents had strong reservations that any new plantings would be well-kept.

"I'm disappointed the council continues to ignore what we are saying. The residents have had a hard time of it over the last six years."

The only potential winners out of the decision were the local remote control yacht club, Hall said.

Royal Palm Beach Yacht Club secretary Graham Brook said he also believed consultation had been "extremely poor" and he had sympathy for residents.

Graham Brook, Royal Palm Beach Yacht Club secretary, pictured in 2018 sailing at Te Ara o Wairākei. Photo / George Novak

The club was "relatively happy" with the changes the council made to the area of the waterway it used.

"We had a meeting with council and the residents as well about six weeks ago. That's the first time we've really seen the council since a meeting about four years ago.

"They presented a plan with quite a big amendment to the plan from four years ago. Then we walked around the pond with them... we suggested a few things. They've taken it on board."

Original plans to plant trees and plants along the grassy bank where the club is based were amended to open the area up. Brook said he felt the compromise involving the club was "fair".

"As a yacht club we've done okay but as for residents, I feel for them," Brook said.

In response, commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said extensive consultation had been done with all interested parties over years, aiming for a consensus on a planting approach that would meet the council's commitments under the previously-agreed landscape plan and the Comprehensive Stormwater Consent applying to Te Ara o Wairakei.

"This is a compromise solution and it's unfortunate that some residents don't appreciate that we have had to consider more than one perspective about what's right for the stormwater reserve.

She said the council was confident most people would come to see the planting as an ecological and landscape enhancement, in time.

In a statement, Ngā Pōtiki's Colin Reeder said the iwi's involvement represented a commitment to the health and enhancement of the natural environment, not just for tribal beneficiaries, but for all residents of Pāpāmoa to enjoy.

"We view the Te Ara ō Wairākei initiative as an opportunity to preserve what remains of the once extensive Pāpāmoa wetlands and associated habitats that continue to disappear as the area develops. We look forward to the completion of this project," Reeder said.

Waitaha chief executive Vivienne Westwood said the iwi continued to maintain the importance of restoring the natural indigenous landscape.

"It is these values and relationship with our natural world that benefit the wellbeing of communities, people, and all living things," she said.

In the meeting, commissioner Shadrach Rolleston said: "We are not going to please everybody and compromises are going to have to be made."

"Council has made some tweaks, hapū have made some tweaks, the community is also going to have to make some tweaks."

Rolleston said moving forward, "council needs to consult with iwi, hapū, residents and adjacent land users".

Commission Stephen Selwood said that in compromises "not everyone gets what they want".

Tolley said that after 15 months since being appointed, "the time has come for us to make a decision and get on with [it]".

"Hopefully, the people that don't agree with it will respect there has been a good process and they've had their views listened to and changes were made accordingly."

Tolley said with the input from the feedback, she hoped the city would end up with a "fantastic amenity, whether you see it as a stormwater drain or park with water in it, to be used by a number of people".

The commission voted to adopt the amended plan and instructed staff to report back to them in six months with a maintenance update and progress on future stages of the landscape plan.