Mayoral candidate Ria Hall has written to the Minister for Housing, Hon Chris Bishop to commend the Government on taking the housing shortage seriously and to advocate for fiscal support to enable Tauranga City Council to be able to afford the infrastructure required to enable the growth the new rules will require.

“Housing affordability is crippling Tauranga and the Government’s announcement to require all Council’s to free up and plan for housing intensification is a clear direction that this Government is taking housing seriously.

“Tauranga is a Tier One Council and we will be required to work at pace to respond to the Government’s direction to live zone 30 years of Housing Growth Targets.

“But this is a critical task to addressing the housing shortage and it will be a key priority for me as Mayor of Tauranga City to implement this direction to fix our housing shortage.

“The new rules requiring mixed-use developments here in Tauranga is a positive step also. We need to see more dispersed business opportunities to work in with local communities. Mixed-use developments allow for cafés to be sprinkled through housing developments creating a sense of community within larger communities.

“I have always admired the way other countries have enabled a good balance of housing with a café culture, or restaurant culture – there is no reason why we cannot have those features and opportunities here in Tauranga.

“For Tauranga ratepayers I will be advocating for central government support to enable the infrastructural requirements that the new housing rules will require. I will have an expectation that new growth will pay for new growth and that the Government rules will make that clear so the burden of paying for growth is not lumped on our local community.

“Housing intensification has been my biggest priority and I will ensure that our housing growth and planning is focused on sustainable growth that houses the many, lowers the cost barriers and will result in a beautiful Tauranga that we can all be proud to call home”.

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