FAQs & Resources
Our Places – Eastern Bay Spatial Plan recognises that the Eastern Bay community needs to plan and implement together as a sub-region, rather than separate authorities and districts.
Decisions made to date have been informed by the following groups:
- Local and regional councils, and iwi authorities guide the approach and will agree on the final plan.
- Political leaders and executive staff provide strategic and technical leadership for the project.
- Friends of Our Places (a collective of businesses and organisations with an Eastern Bay perspective who are invested in the long-term success of the sub-region), community groups and people in the Eastern Bay represent interests of the Eastern Bay.
How will Our Places – Eastern Bay Spatial Plan be used?
Our Places – Eastern Bay Spatial Plan will guide agencies that deliver infrastructure, housing development and other critical services (such as health and education) to meet the growth needs across the Eastern Bay of Plenty and deliver on partner aspirations.
When it is complete, Our Places – Eastern Bay Spatial Plan will reflect collective aspirations for the sub-region to inform councils’ Long Term Plan processes and District Plan changes, and government infrastructure investment decisions.
This work will represent Eastern Bay priorities into decision making, so we actively shape our future in the direction we want it to go.
How and when will local communities be involved in Our Places – Eastern Bay Spatial Plan?
Over the past year, we have been collecting information and data about the Eastern Bay. This, alongside conversations with local councils, regional council, government agencies, iwi and hapū, has given us an idea about how and where development could happen and what we could need to do alongside development.
Now, we need help to make sure we are on the right track and that we take the right approach.
Using this feedback, as well as other information about the region, we will create Our Places – Eastern Bay Spatial Plan in early 2025.
Once that’s finished, we’ll come back to the community for further feedback and input before finalising the plan in late 2025.
How can we meet the demand for residential and business land for the next 30 years?
One of the biggest decisions we need to make is about where new development could happen (both residential housing and business space). We can then work on how to make it happen.
Based on the information we have, including projected population growth, environmental constraints and the impacts of climate change, and key areas for economic development, three high-level scenarios were created to support discussions on how we could accommodate current and future needs.
These scenarios are available to view from your local council or online.
How will you support growth in areas where there are natural hazards?
In some areas, it’s a ‘no go’. This is where the risk from known natural hazards, alongside long-term predictions of a changing climate, is high. Creating new or expanding existing settlements would be unwise in these places.
In some areas, it’s a ‘go carefully’, where creating new developments, or expanding or intensifying existing settlements are considered acceptable. This is because we have identified that an investment into additional infrastructure can support people in these areas to live safely.
The spatial plan does not create new natural hazards maps. It works with information about natural hazards to inform decisions about where is and where is not a good place to put 5,500 new houses. It does not replace regional policy statements, regional or district plans.
How many more people and houses are we planning for?
The Eastern Bay is renowned for its outstanding natural and cultural taonga, attracting people to the region for centuries.
The population of the Eastern Bay in 2023 was estimated at 57,000:
- 33,500 people live in the townships of Kawerau, Ōpōtiki and Whakatāne.
- Approximately 11,650 live in the villages of Awakeri, Matatā, Murupara, Taneatua, Te Teko and Edgecumbe.
- Approximately 11,850 people live more rurally across the Eastern Bay.
To forecast projected housing and development need, we make the best-informed guess possible and update this regularly as things change. In reality, what happens could be more or less.
- Looking out to 2055, there will likely be around 12,000 more people living in the Eastern Bay.
- In 2022, there were, 20,600 ‘employees’ in the Eastern Bay. By 2055, there is likely to be 25,000.
Why can’t we simply build more houses next to existing townships?
The Eastern Bay of Plenty is one of the most constrained parts of the country because of natural hazards – and climate change will only make this harder.
There are trade-offs between building in areas we know to be at risk from natural hazards, and shifting development to places that are less developed now, but are safer options.
Parts of the Whakatāne and Opotiki townships are affected by natural hazards from stormwater, as are land areas next to them. Kawerau is also constrained from expanding, due to established industrial land uses and other considerations affecting the suitability of land.
While there may be some opportunities for new housing and business developments near these townships, there is not enough room for all the houses we expect to need.
How does a spatial plan relate to the other plans, like District or Long Term Plans?
The spatial plan sets out high-level strategy that will be agreed between those who are participating in creating the plan. It could then become part of the evidence base for future District Plan changes, when rules for land use and development are updated, and provide project proposals for future Long Term Plans, to help determine funding.
It does not change land uses on a property (e.g, rezone) or commit funding to proposed projects.
How will Our Places – Eastern Bay Spatial Plan be implemented when it is done?
Once Our Places – Eastern Bay Spatial Plan is created, implementation actions will pinpoint infrastructure needs, outline steps for further investigation, and financial and infrastructure planning, as well as engagement with local communities and landowners in a more detailed way than a sub-regional planning process can achieve.
Funding decisions for implementation are not made as part of the spatial plan and would come later through other processes, including councils’ Long Terms Plans, or the funding decisions in the National Land Transport Programme.