35,000 more new houses in Tauranga

The Housing Infrastructure Fund will provide $230 million in funding to the Tauranga City Council to provide for 35,000 more houses through three major new infrastructure projects in the city, Finance Minister Steven Joyce and Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith say.

“These infrastructure projects will provide for a very large part of the expected need for additional housing for the next 30 years in one of New Zealand’s fastest growing regions,” Mr Joyce says.

“The proposed infrastructure includes a connection to State Highway 2, new local arterial roads, new wastewater and water supply network mains and storm water infrastructure as well as building a new water treatment plant and extending the wastewater treatment plant,” Dr Smith says.

Specifics of the developments are:

• Te Tumu Eastern Corridor: A greenfields development which will eventually include a town centre, potential job growth for about 8500 people, a new school development and significant recreational facility development. The Te Tumu development will provide infrastructure for 20 per cent of Tauranga’s forecast housing needs in the next 30 years.
• Waiari Water Treatment Plant: A new water treatment plant at Waiari, with existing consent to draw water from the Waiari stream until 2050. The plant will provide for 100 per cent of the fresh water needs for the predicted growth in the next 30 years.
• Te Maunga Wastewater Treatment Plant Extension: Increases the capacity of the existing plant to service 100 per cent of the waste water needs for expected housing growth over the next 30 years.

“Both the Te Maunga waste water extension and Waiari water treatment plant have been going through the planning process for 20 years. This demonstrates a good grasp of long-term infrastructure growth planning by Tauranga City Council, which is great to see,” Mr Joyce says.

“Te Maunga has already secured resource consent for the extension plans, which will speed up the implementation of this exciting new infrastructure. Sewage treatment and disposal would have been a significant obstacle to responding to rapid housing growth in Tauranga, and now we have a way for forward,” Dr Smith says.

The Tauranga City Council will now work through Detailed Business Cases for the projects alongside government agencies, with the first funding agreements from the Housing Infrastructure Fund expected to be signed before the end of the year.