Rowesdale Pukemapu Fiasco

The outcome of Council’s investigation to facilitate access for potential urban development of

land in the Ohauiti area.

Project Update

A residential subdivision is planned on site, with the final subdivision layout and number and

size of sections still to be determined by the developers. It is anticipated that approximately

210 residential allotments ranging from 280m² to 1,000m² will be delivered over several

stages, as the development progresses. The final layout is subject to subdivision consent

under the Tauranga City Plan.

The developers recently obtained earthwork consents from Bay of Plenty Regional Council

(BOPRC) and Tauranga City Council. Consenting processes for permanent stormwater

discharge are currently being worked through with BOPRC.

Clearing of the site is now underway, with existing trees and structures being removed in

preparation for stage 1 earthworks. A detailed programme of work is still being finalised by

the developers and we will be encouraging them to share more information with the

community where possible.

Project Background

The Commissioners with Council and Beca staff held meetings on Wednesday 1 December

and Tuesday 7 December 2021 with the 21 directly affected property owners (as outlined in

the map below) and the 210 indirectly affected property owners living on/near Rowesdale

Drive, respectively.

Council, on Wednesday 2 February 2022, held three information sessions (drop-in, no

presentation) with the wider Ohauiti community.

The purpose of these meetings and information sessions was to share the decision made at

a Council meeting on Tuesday 26 October 2021 about the outcome of the technical option

assessments to facilitate access for potential urban development of land in the Ohauiti area.

The purchase of the properties at 202 and 206 Rowesdale Drive, Ohauiti

Rowesdale Drive council owned properties

Blue – two properties owned by Tauranga City Council,

Yellow – 21 properties on the same land covenants as Council.

Council purchased the 206 Rowesdale Drive at a public auction on 29 October 2020. The

opportunity to purchase 202 Rowesdale Drive was made available to Council and it was

purchased on 12 February 2021. Both the properties were purchased using Council’s

Strategic Acquisition Fund

We are constantly reviewing how we plan for our city’s growth, including how we can

respond to the ongoing housing shortage. The sections of land behind the Rowesdale

properties (which is zoned residential at approximately 13 hectares) could potentially help

meet some of the city’s housing needs. When the Rowesdale properties came up for sale,

we viewed it as an opportunity that allows us to consider using it as road access. As with

anyone else buying in today’s property market, we needed to move fast when the purchase

opportunity arose.

Since the purchases of both properties, Council has investigated the different options for

providing access to the land to enable its development.

Council’s investigation and technical options assessment

This investigation included analysis of potential road access points to the land and what

infrastructure is required to enable development of the land, including the Rowesdale

properties. The investigation provided Council with the details and analysis required to make

a decision about whether and how Council can achieve road access to facilitate future

growth that might occur in this area. The investigation commenced in early 2021 and was

completed prior to Council meeting on 26 October 2021.

Council’s decision on Tuesday 26 October 2021

Following the investigation on the technical options assessment, an issues and options

paper was presented at the Council meeting for further direction.

The Commissioners made a decision to proceed with an option to enable the access to the

residential land via Rowesdale Drive through a process under the Property Law Act i.e. the

legal, valuation and compensation process with the 21 directly affected property owners.

Council has identified these 21 property owners as those who’re directly affected due to the

decision Council has made as their properties are covered by a relevant land covenant in

Easement Instrument 8524891.8. Due to the nature of the land covenants on these

properties, Council engaged with these property owners first on 1 December 2021.

Community’s frequently asked questions

Traffic is already very bad in the area, adding extra 200-300 houses will make it worse, any

plans to alleviate this?

There is broader programme of work across Tauranga to improve the transport network –

simply known as the Transport System Plan.

At a high level, this plan is looking to provide people with greater and safer transport

choices. This work has a strong focus on the shift the City needs to make towards public

transport and active modes (likely cycling) with less resilience on cars and our ability to

always build our way out of congestion. It is also focussed on how we can reduce the need

for travel by providing amenities like parks and shops locally.

Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency have undertaken some preliminary

investigation of some relatively minor improvements to the SH29a / Poike Road roundabout.

This work identified that a more significant and costly improvement was needed than first

anticipated. Next steps for any improvement of that intersection are still to be identified by

Waka Kotahi.

There is also an investigation into how 15th Ave/ Turret Road and Welcome Bay Road can

be improved. This is getting underway now. In the medium / longer term Waka Kotahi have

an investigation into how to improve SH29a.

Have consideration for more amenities such as playgrounds, schools and shops been made

to minimise motor vehicle trips? (Any provisions for community, social club?)

A broader piece of work known as the Welcome Bay and Ohauiti Planning Study has been

completed. As a result of this work TCC is investigating options for sportsfields in Ohauiti

and the upgrade of the Welcome Bay Community Hall and Centre, it also involves working

with the Ministry of Education on schooling provision within the Ohauiti area. The need for

additional retail and commercial facilities in Ohauiti has also been highlighted and will be

considered in future when the City Plan is reviewed (or an alternative to the City Plan is

developed as part of the government Resource Management reforms).

At the development level for the land the need for a neighbourhood reserve and playground

would occur through consenting process if development moves ahead.

Why is the entrance to this new development site not made in Oropi Road?

Access to the site from the west via Oropi Road (known as Option 2) was investigated.

However, this option needs to cross a river, multiple-owned Maori land and was identified as

having greater social / cultural, geotechnical / infrastructure and environmental impacts than

a number of other options including the preferred via Rowesdale Drive. These factors

contributed to an Oropi Road connection not being preferred.

Has the land behind Bertrowe Drive already sold? If so, when would we expect building to

start?

We understand developers are negotiating with some of the current landowners to purchase

properties within the Residential Zoned site. The timing for any development will ultimately

be determined by a developer. Access to the land will be a pre-requisite to this and is

Councils focus. At this stage, we are anticipating a High Court Hearing on the Property Law

Act application in mid-2022. Should this be successful then development of the land might

progress in the next 1 to 2 years plus but that timing is dependent on a number of factors

e.g. the PLA application being successful; the developers timeframes; subdivision

consenting timeframes.

When is it likely that you will open-up the end of Rowesdale Drive (Timeline)?

As noted above in respect to Q.4, this is subject to a number of factors but possibly within

the next 1-2 years plus.

We paid higher premium to buy in this subdivision, as we understood that there was no more

land to build. This development would devalue our properties.

The document below contains questions that have come in from the Ohauiti community.

Please note that some of the questions we received were similar, so we have combined

questions where appropriate.

Community's frequently asked questions - Rowesdale Drive, Ohauiti (188kb pdf)