It’s no secret the Taupō District is a great place to live, in fact more and more people are choosing to call it home every year.

Taupō District Council estimates an extra 25,500 people will live in the district by 2060 and preparing for this growth takes a great amount of planning.

Council is now asking for feedback on its draft Future Development Strategy and the next bundle of draft District Plan Changes, with submissions closing at 4pm on Friday 20 December.

While growth is great for local businesses and creating diverse communities, it also puts additional strain on housing capacity and infrastructure. An additional 25,500 people would mean the district needs another 12,300 homes to accommodate them.

The Future Development Strategy considers how future land for housing, capacity for network infrastructure such as water pipes and roading, tāngata whenua aspirations, and the natural environment are looked at holistically to ensure sustainable and efficient growth.

Taupō District Council’s senior policy advisor Tanya Wood says this strategy proactively plans for growth in the next 35 years to the year 2060.

“It shapes options for where future communities will live, how they will connect, and how the natural and cultural landscape is protected and enhanced,” she says.

“It also helps to prevent development happening in an unplanned way.”

You can read the draft Future Development Strategy and have your say at www.taupo.govt.nz/haveyoursay.

Meanwhile, feedback gathered in this first round of consultation on the next bundle of draft District Plan changes will be incorporated in the draft before more consultation in 2025.  Bundle two includes three plan changes which cover the Residential, Open Space and Neighbourhood Centre chapters of the plan.

As part of meeting its future growth requirements, Council has proposed a little more intensification in medium-density areas. Also, where a land owner owns multiple sections, it will be easier to develop these in the most efficient way possible. For those that live in the general residential zone, which is most people, not a lot is changing.

The proposed changes also include encouraging sustainability within households. This would mean exemptions for things like domestic-scale wind turbines, and rainwater harvesting tanks.

Other key changes are providing for papakāinga housing (empowering Māori communities by supporting housing projects on ancestral land) in residential zones, and introducing neighbourhood centres and open space zones.  Currently, these are managed within the residential chapters of the plan, but will move to their own separate chapters under these plan changes.

The draft district plan changes can be found at www.taupo.govt.nz/districtplanchanges.  Following the first phase of community engagement, Council will contact submitters and key stakeholders to discuss the categorisation of open spaces and reserves. The plan changes are still only drafts, and will not be notified under the Resource Management Act until 2025.

Members of Council’s policy team are happy to chat if you have queries or want further information. Please email futuredevelopment@taupo.govt.nz to contact the team. If you would like to chat about the District Plan changes, please email districtplan@taupo.govt.nz and a team member will get in touch.

© Scoop Media