The plan for the next ten years and beyond in Tauranga hasn’t changed much since Tauranga City Council Commissioners set off on an ambitious mission to address the city’s growth challenges in 2021, but the cost of delivery has increased significantly.

Today, commissioner’s put their heads together to crunch some numbers, find solutions, and work out the best way to continue with the important work they started, when capital investment was deliberately light to keep rates low. Since 2020, the Council has increased capital investment from less than $120 million a year to an annual capital investment of around $360 million.

“We’ve seen the people in this organisation really stand up to meet our expectations, and more importantly the expectations of the community, but like all New Zealand councils, we’re facing different challenges today than we were two years ago,” said Commission Chair Anne Tolley.

Since Tauranga City Council’s 2021-31 Amended Long-term Plan, the cost of living has increased significantly, along with construction costs, general inflation and interest rates. Other changes since then include the impact of natural disasters on funding availability, changes to the timing of the government’s waters reform, and further investment needed to improve our roads including a backlog of deferred maintenance.

Despite these challenges, Anne said the Commissioner’s intention for its draft 2024-34 Long-term Plan is to continue with the direction of the previous plan, with a focus on delivery and finishing projects that have started.

“We don’t see any need to change the actual plan. All of the things we set out to achieve such as investing in the quality of life for the people who live here, increasing investment in important infrastructure to keep the city functioning and moving forward, and delivering on agreed priorities, still apply,” she said.

“However, we know it’s a hard time to talk about the investment the city needs at a time when the cost of living is front of everyone’s mind.”

With this in mind, commissioners are working hard to keep future costs and rates increases as affordable as possible by delaying or deferring some projects, while still delivering the work needed to address the city’s key issues. This means changing the scale and timing of planned investment while focusing on delivering value for money and keeping up with the maintenance and renewal of what council already has.

Key priorities over the next three years include investment in:

• Housing and Transport
• City Centre (precinct and economic development)
• Community (Spaces and Places, Arts and Culture)
• Resilience and Sustainability
• Looking after assets we have (maintenance and renewals)
• Delivery (what we’ve started)

Other initiatives include further exploring other possible sources of funding and financing such as the Government’s Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act, targeted rates, and new and increased user fees to make sure everyone pays their fair share.

Once the draft plan has been developed, the Council will check in with the community to make sure it’s on the right track. Consultation on the draft 2024-34 Long-term Plan is planned from 15 November to 15 December 2023.

“We’re committed to working with our communities to deliver what our growing city and communities need now and, in the future,” Anne said,

“We’re going to have to make some tough decisions and we’ll need your help, but together we’re confident we can continue to create a vibrant, well-planned city with people at its heart.”

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