Proposed Plan Change 33 height increases could destroy Mount Maunganui’s unique character, developer says

Buildings in Mount Maunganui North could be allowed to get a lot higher under Plan Change 33. Photo / Mead Norton

Mount Maunganui North’s “iconic character” could be “destroyed” if a proposal to increase building height restrictions up to 22 metres gets the green light.

Those are developer Peter Cooney’s comments after Tauranga City Council assessments found the area was one of the city’s town centres - areas where Government directives meant the council had to allow taller and higher-density buildings.

But the council says exceptions - reduced limits - may apply, including in parts of Mount Maunganui North.

The proposals are laid out in Plan Change 33, which maps out how various new density and height limits would apply across the city, and is going through a formal confirmation process.

Classic Group director and Mount Maunganui resident Cooney said he believed allowing building up to 22m anywhere in Mount Maunganui “will destroy its iconic character”.

“It’s like going down to Queenstown and into Arrowtown and saying it’s all going to be five-storeyed high ... if you go to centres all around the world, where you’ve got an iconic status like this, and character and amenity, they manage that very strictly and they won’t allow that character to be infringed.”

“Mount Maunganui is considered the jewel in Tauranga’s crown. It is a town village, not a town centre.”

Cooney said Tauranga had not had a change to the City Plan since the early 2000s and, in his view, “the council has been caught with its pants down”. He said he believed it was trying to follow the Government’s directive to intensify at a fast pace in order to access infrastructure funding.

Cooney said there was a letterbox drop to residents in November advising the proposed change to height restrictions ranging from 12 to between 16 and 22 metres. It called for submissions that closed in December.

Classic Group director Peter Cooney.

He said he believed the consultation process had been “flawed”.

He did not believe the council had covered all the requirements or assessments on infrastructure, traffic and air quality control. ”Where is the work that has been done?”

In his view: “It’s a joke and the whole thing is a farce.”

Barrister and Mount Business Association chairwoman Kate Barry-Piceno said the group was not opposed to intensification.

“We are opposed to the [in association’s view] poor, rushed planning and the lack of proper consultation process with the full engagement of the community.”

Barry-Piceno said she called a meeting with Mount Maunganui residents in December about the proposal to increase the height restrictions and encouraged them to make a submission.

She was particularly concerned about the proposed increased height limits at Mount Maunganui North as it was a “very special area”.

“It has a whole lot of factors that are unique … it’s got the mountain and industrial area that is regionally significant to the economy. There is the port and cruise ships that come in.

“The natural landscape and the tourist aspects are a massive attraction for not just visitors but also locals.”

She said there were already significant impacts of traffic and conflict between how industrial users, visitors and residents used the area.

Barry-Piceno also referred to a health study, released last month, showing Mount Maunganui had around five more premature deaths and 10 hospitalisations each year linked to long-term exposure to pollutants compared with Ōtūmoetai, 5km away. The estimated social cost was $22 million a year.

Council strategy, growth and governance general manager Christine Jones said the council was required to progress a plan change to implement the central Government’s Medium Density Residential Standards and give effect to intensification provisions in the National Policy Statement on Urban Development.

Those provisions, in Policy 3 of the statement, enabled higher density and building heights within and around the city centre, other identified commercial centres across the city and close to public transport.

Tauranga City Council strategy, growth and governance general manager Christine Jones. Photo / Alex Cairns

“Council have identified a methodology to meet the legislated requirements in the [National Policy Statement].

“Firstly, we are required to identify the type of commercial centre and then proposed heights within and around the centre. The methodology proposes to enable four to six storeys around town centres and is proposed to apply to areas such as Bethlehem and Bayfair,” Jones said.

“The Mount Maunganui North commercial strip has also been identified as a town centre through technical assessments.”

She said the council could also identify where the new height limits may be reduced to account for values such as the coastal environment, landscape and cultural. It had identified such values in parts of Mount Maunganui North.

Jones said Plan Change 33 was first notified in August last year through more than 50,000 letters as well as on social media, radio, its website, council newsletters and about 200 emails to stakeholders.

Submissions closed the following month, with 404 received. Submitters were invited to make further submissions between November 28 and December 9, attracting 205 responses.

“A substantial number of these were from Mount Maunganui residents,” she said.

The council would publish a report with its recommendations on all submissions by August 25, and this would include recommended heights for the Mount North area.

An Independent Hearings Panel would consider the report and other information in October before making its recommendations to the council.

Jones said three submissions sought “additional height” in Mount Maunganui North. The council was required to respond to all submissions and had “therefore undertaken further technical assessments” to inform its recommendations.

Property Council central region chair Morgan Jones said an overhaul of Tauranga’s City Plan was long overdue and it had made quality infill development a difficult, slow and costly process.

“Plan Change 33 isn’t just tinkering around the edges but rather it provides an ambitious vision that will unlock housing options in Tauranga for the coming decades.”

The Mount was one of the areas that ticked the boxes for increased heights for development around commercial centres that were walkable and had public transport options.

“Enabling intensification within a five- to 10-minute walk of some of our commercial centres is critically important and aligns with better development outcomes, housing outcomes and environmental outcomes of having people reside within close proximity to town centres which often have good public transport routes and amenity.”

A spokesperson for Minister for Infrastructure Megan Woods said Infrastructure Acceleration Fund announcements for Tauranga in the past year included $80m for work to enable about 2000 new homes in Tauriko West and $67.9m for Te Papa Peninsula and the Cameron Rd corridor project.

Carmen Hall is a news director for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, covering business and general news. She has been a Voyager Media Awards winner and a journalist for 25 years.