Growth predicted along city centre to Te Kamo corridor

Published on 10 August 2024

This image of the top of Bank Street was enhanced with imagination and AI.

Update: Our consultation on the draft Future Development Strategy closed on Monday 2 September 2024.

Have you taken a moment to gaze into the District’s future through the draft Future Development Strategy (FDS):

Draft Future Development Strategy

A quick flick through the FDS gives an insight into things the District will need to deal with over the next 30 years.

These include:

• 40,000 more people
• 17,000 new homes
• access to a wider range of housing choices
• upgrading and building new infrastructure to support growth and resilience
• planning for more severe weather events
• enabling more choices for people to move around the District.

Council’s Senior Strategic Planner, Hamish Sykes, says responding to these changes will require some “transformational moves” for those managing and catering for growth, and these will be reflected in the landscape of the District.

“Over the long-term, most of the growth and development will happen between the city centre and Te Kamo. Along this 'primary growth corridor', we can expect to see more dense housing and mixed-use developments, supported by better public transport, and walking and cycling connections.”

Council already has a Blue-Green Network to manage flooding and stormwater, and bring flora and fauna back into the city. The changes it brings will become much more obvious in years to come.

“More people will be living in the city centre. A range of solutions will be needed to improve the resilience of the city, ensuring the city centre becomes a vibrant and lively destination,” says Mr Sykes.

“We also expect community pride in local centres will be revitalised and restored with local shops providing people with their daily needs and bringing people and culture together.”

He says the Marsden strategic growth area would involve large transport infrastructure, port and business investment requiring more new housing for the workforce.

Roading would become more resilient and provide better connections, including improvements to State Highway 1, the potential airport relocation and access, and upgrades to the hospital.

A potential passenger rail network would also support key growth areas, while freight rail would support a growing economy.

“To find out more and share your views with us, hop online or come to one of our community drop-in sessions.”