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Keenan Road urban growth area

Rohe hanga taone ki Keenan Road

Keenan Road Urban Growth Area

Keenan Road is an ideal location to provide more residential housing to cater for the growth we are experiencing in Tauranga.

New assessment documents now available

The Keenan Road Urban Growth Area Geotechnical Hazard Assessment and Freshwater and Ecological Impact Assessment have been completed and are now available to view in the document library below.

The Geotechnical Hazard Assessment comprises of 711 pages, and is split into five documents due to file sizing with page numbers listed in file name. Please contact us if you would like a single file version of the assessment document.

Building a new community

Tauranga City and the Western Bay of Plenty District have seen a rapid and sustained increase in population, with the sub-region’s population expected to increase and reach between 246,100 and 317,500 people in the next 30 years.

Keenan Road in Pyes Pā, part of what is known as the Western Corridor, is one of the large-scale urban developments proposed to support Tauranga's growth. It’s an ideal location to set up a new community and provide more residential housing. The plan is for an estimated 2,500-3,000 new homes staged over the next 20-30 years.

The planning process

Building the new community at Keenan Road requires changes to the Tauranga City Plan to rezone the land from rural to urban so housing can be developed. The plan change will also outline the rules that will apply to the development and guide consent decisions. The planning process involves mana whenua, landowner, stakeholder, and community participation (including submissions and hearings).

Following two stages of public consultation in September 2023 and April 2024, we’re progressing the proposed structure plan for the new Keenan Road community. The structure plan will show us where the key elements of the new community would be located including residential areas, roads, reserves, shopping centre, walkways and cycleways, and cultural and ecological features and values. To achieve this a number of assessments have been completed and others are underway (see 'document library').

Once it’s ready we will bring the preferred structure plan to the community and stakeholders for review, before formally notifying a plan change to rezone the area for urban development in the Tauranga City Plan. The timing of the plan change is impacted by current Government reforms to the resource management system – find out more under ‘next steps’ below.

The transport network

This new community will need walking and cycling infrastructure to connect people within Pyes Pa, the Lakes, Tauriko Business Estate, and future growth areas, as well as public transport provisions to connect the growth area to the city centre and beyond.

We have investigated the transport infrastructure needed to develop the new Keenan Road community through a business case. which will determine connections onto State Highway 36 as well as key internal connections. The business case has been finalised and is awaiting NZTA response.

As part of this we are investigating future improvements for State Highway 29 and 29A proposed by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency as a factor in supporting the new Keenan Road community

Public consultation

Stage one

Our aim is to develop a resilient and connected community. In September 2023, we sought initial community feedback on our investigations in Keenan Road to help us shape the growth area and the transport improvements. Consultation ran from Thursday, 31 August through to Thursday, 28 September, and included drop-in sessions and an online survey. You can read the full engagement report below.

Engagement report - September 2023 (622kb pdf)

Stage two

Following evaluation of stage one feedback, input from partners and stakeholders, and consideration of technical and funding recommendations, we developed a set of options for the community to give feedback on to help prepare a preferred plan. These included options for roading, walking/cycling, housing, reserves, and locations for a local shopping centre.

Engagement report - April 2024 (340kb pdf)

Next steps and Resource Management reform

We are undertaking stormwater investigations which have proven to be complex and will extend into 2026 to complete. The outcome of this technical work will then enable the options for roading, walkways and cycleways, and reserves to be finalised.

With the Government’s resource management reforms underway, it is unlikely the plan change will be notified under the current Resource Management Act 1991. Instead we anticipate that the rezoning of Keenan Road for residential development will need to be integrated into a new regulatory plan under the new system. The Government has signalled that the preparation of this new regulatory plan will begin in 2027, with potential to come in effect as early as 2028 (subject to Government resource management reform processes).

Find out more about the RMA reform

While this affects the timing of notification of a plan change for Keenan Road (previously expected in late 2026), we do not anticipate that these changes will have any substantial impact on when development is enabled on the ground, considering the broader requirements for infrastructure provision and funding for the Keenan Road Urban Growth Area.

Frequently asked questions

Keenan Road has been proposed as a future urban growth area for Tauranga for over 10 years. We identified Keenan Road in Pyes Pa, part of what is known as the Western Corridor, as an ideal location to set up a new community and provide more residential housing to cater for this growth and meet national urban development requirements. This has been reinforced by its inclusion in the Western Bay of Plenty SmartGrowth Strategy 2024-2074.

Tauranga City Council is leading the structure plan process.

The structure plan and associated plan change to the City Plan will likely be integrated into a new regulatory plan under the new resource management system. The preparation of this new regulatory plan has been signalled by Government to begin in 2027, with potential to come in effect as early as 2028 (subject to Government resource management reform processes). At that time development may be able to commence, but this will be dependent on the staging and infrastructure provisions contained within the plan change. The development of the whole new growth area is expected to take 20-30 years.

A structure plan is a framework to guide the development or redevelopment of an area by defining the future development and land use patterns, areas of open space, the layout and nature of infrastructure (including transportation links), and other key features and constraints that influence how the effects of development are to be managed.

The structure plan will show us where the key elements of the new community will be located and how it integrates with the transport planning underway, development of a comprehensive stormwater consent and other infrastructure, and where the various land uses will be located. The land uses we are considering for Keenan Road are housing, a commercial centre, primary school, reserves, and walkways and cycleways. There will also be a rule framework developed that will be part of the City Plan to manage any future development.

We will continue to engage with mana whenua, landowners, stakeholders, and the wider community as the structure plan progresses and more information is made available.

We're asking people across Tauranga, and within the Western Corridor area (from the Wairoa and Ōmanawa Rivers in the west, across Belk, Keenan, Merrick and Joyce Roads to the Waiorohi River in the east), to share their views on the plans to build the transport system and the future community.

We will evaluate all the feedback we've received, and it will be included alongside input from partners and stakeholders and considered together with the technical and funding recommendations to inform structure plan options

  • August 2023: Project commencement
  • September 2023: Public drop-in sessions held at Pyes Pa Settlers Hall
  • 2026: Technical studies completed
  • Late-2026: Draft preferred structure plan prepared and consulted on
  • 2027: Structure plan finalised, and plan change publicly notified under the RMA (or equivalent replacement)
  • 2028: Plan change operative.

There could be 2500 - 3000 houses (approx. 6,000 people), a local shopping centre and parks and reserves (including a possible active reserve), and a primary school.

There will be no immediate changes to the existing land, including existing land uses and houses. Part of preparing the structure plan will be the consideration of staging and timing of the provision of infrastructure to enable development to occur. It is anticipated to take 20-30 years to fill up the urban growth area.

To support the new community, we will require improvements to the transport network, both upgrading connections onto SH36, Pyes Pa Road and the wider Western Corridor, and developing a new multi-modal internal road layout.

We are currently investigating these transport infrastructure needs to develop the new Keenan Road community through a business case with NZTA/Waka Kotahi. The existing roading network will remain and be upgraded over time as the development progresses and there are will be some additional new roads.

The Keenan Road structure plan area does not affect the properties on Belk, Merrick and Joyce Roads. These other areas have been identified as possible long-term options if Tauranga’s population continues to grow. However, provision is to be made for a possible future connection between Keenan Road and Merrick Road. It is important to ensure the development of Keenan Road does not preclude the development of the other greenfield areas.

Key information

Project type
Planning, design and renewal
Transport and movement

Status
Planning

Neighbourhood
Pyes Pa / Tauriko

Key dates

  • Stage one consultation

    September 2023
  • Stage two consultation

    April 2024
  • Technical studies complete

    2026
  • Public engagement on preferred structure plan

    Late 2026
  • Structure plan completed and plan change ready for notification

    2027

Resources

Document library

 

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