| 13 “We need to seek solutions to development issues together in an inclusive rather than a hierarchical statutory way. At the end of the day, it will be a private and public cooperation that will provide solutions, and we need to work together.” to page 14 NZ planning framework out of kilter Karen Phelps Bluehaven Group Chief Executive Nathan York says there needs to be more collaboration between statutory officials and developers to free up land for housing. Bluehaven Group DEVELOPMENT CIVIL CONSTRUCTION SPECIALISTS Proudly supporting Classic Developments & Bluehaven (07) 5420419 | admin@baycivil.nz | www.baycivil.co.nz SUBDIVISIONS | DRAINLAYING | COMMERCIAL SITE WORKS EARTHWORKS | UTILITIES | PAVEMENTS AND CARPARKS Lack of green-fields land to develop is meaning an increasing tightening of the housing market in Tauranga. Chief Executive of Bluehaven Group, Nathan York says it’s the result of long-term planning not keeping pace, and consequently the demand now far exceeds supply. It’s an issue developers identified some time ago, but he says their views from the coalface were not always given the weight they deserved. “There needs to be far more collaboration between statutory officials and developers,” he says. “We need to seek solutions to development issues together in an inclusive rather than a hierarchical statutory way. At the end of the day, it will be a private and public cooperation that will provide solutions, and we need to work together.” Another major challenge to the development of more land to help meet the housing crisis is the alignment of the various aspects of the New Zealand planning framework, says Nathan. Timing and misalignment with National Policy Statements (NPS) to Regional Policy Statements to City or District Plans, and through to engineering or infrastructure codes can create huge problems, he says.. “Unfortunately you are always in catch up mode if a change occurs at NPS level. There is always a lag, before a NPS is applied or filtered down to localised level. And often with new policies, interpretations can be subjective and potential inconsistency arises, dragging out the process even further.” He says a case in point is the new NPS for freshwater management. “The definition of what freshwater has changed, from what we understood it to be. It’s now challenging to get land consented, especially noting the long lead times in the planning cycle that we face, and the rules change along the way” he says. The oft-cited lack of investment in infrastructure is another big issue in developing housing supply, along with Covid-19 supply chain issues to address. Nathan also questions the accuracy of modelling on how many houses we really need and where. There is a distinct difference between City Plan enabled and housing that actually gets built. Get this wrong and it throws out the whole equation, he says.
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