A group of Tauranga residents wants to crowdfund $8 million to buy a section of Bureta green space with 27 mature trees at 80 Ngatai Rd and protect it from development.
A group of Tauranga residents want to urgently raise up to $8 million to save a 1.4-hectare block of privately owned Bureta parkland from development.
Emily Mowbray and Muriel Spenceley said they, and others supporting the cause, had always believed the entirety of the well-used green space next to the Bureta Countdown on Ngatai Rd was part of the publicly owned Chapel St Reserve.
But when a fence went up around part of it - including 27 mature trees - on June 1, they were shocked to learn the land was privately owned and about to be developed.
Tauranga City Council confirmed it had granted a non-notified resource consent to developer Mike Greer Homes in April for a 56-lot residential development at 80 Ngatai Rd.
The land in the blue box was sold for development in 2016. Photo / File
Environmental planning team leader Amy Spurdle said the council had never owned or had an opportunity to own the land, and the trees were not heritage trees or protected under the City Plan.
She said there had been no special circumstances to warrant a notification process for the resource consent application - a residential development in a residential zone.
Mowbray and Spenceley disagree and were frustrated the public had not had an opportunity to have a say on the development, or in defence of what they saw as a valuable city asset - green space.
After talking to the council and the developer, and rallying community support via social media, a survey - dropped in letterboxes and posted online - and peaceful protests, they have hatched a creative new plan.
A peaceful protest held by those who want to save the trees. Photo / Supplied
Inspired by the successful 2016 grassroots crowdfunding campaign to buy Awaroa Inlet - which saw 40,000 people pledged $2.28m to buy a 7.36ha beach block in Abel Tasman - they want to raise enough money to buy the land from the developer and preserve it as a park.
Mowbray said they knew it was a big ask, but worth a shot to save the valuable green space.
"We are not prepared to think small on this."
She believed that if the various strands of the community could be gathered together - individuals, schools, small businesses, corporations, fundraising trusts - to support the cause, it was achievable.
Awaroa Inlet, the beach New Zealand bought after a crowdfunding campaign that began in 2016. Photo / File
"We are calling on people and businesses to sponsor a tree."
She said she would ask her bank to extend her overdraft so she could pledge $1000 to the cause.
If the goal of raising $7m to $8m was not achieved, or if the purchase could not happen for some other reason, the money would be returned to those who pledged it, she said.
Mowbray said their deadline was July 22. She was planning to set up a donation page through Givealittle, or another online fundraising portal.
Mike Greer Homes Tauranga staff did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
Not everyone in the area was surprised to see a development starting at 80 Ngatai Rd.
To Vale St resident Neal Butt, the sudden upswell of community interest in the space has come years too late.
He said the time to try to save the green space was in 2014 when he and other residents whose homes overlooked the area protested Tauranga City Council's support for Progressive Enterprises' plan to build the supermarket on residential zoned land.
"They should have protested when the Countdown was going in. That was the time, which has long past. It's a fait accompli," she said.
Neither Butt nor Betts had any big issues with the residential development plans, though Betts thought there should have been a limited notification for neighbours and had some concerns about flooding mitigation.
