Regional Council Agenda

NOTICE IS GIVEN that the next meeting of the Regional Council will be held in Council Chambers, Regional House, 1 Elizabeth Street, Tauranga on:

Monday 27 May 2024 COMMENCING AT 4.45 PM (or at the conclusion of the Tauranga City Council meeting)

This meeting will be livestreamed and recorded.

The Public section of this particular meeting will be livestreamed here: https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/council/about-your-council/council-meetings-agendas-and-minutes/live-stream-council-meetings

The recording will be uploaded to Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s website.  Further details on this can be found after the Terms of Reference within the Agenda. Bay of Plenty Regional Council - YouTube

 

Fiona McTavish

Chief Executive, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana

19 May 2024

 


 

Council

Membership

Chairperson

Chairman Doug Leeder

Deputy Chairperson

Cr Jane Nees

Members

All Councillors

Quorum

Seven members, consisting of half the number of members

Meeting frequency

Six weekly or as required for Annual Plan, Long Term Plan and other relevant legislative requirements

Purpose

·            Enable democratic local decision-making and action by, and on behalf of, Bay of Plenty communities.

·            Meet the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses.

·            Set the overarching strategic direction for Bay of Plenty Regional Council as an organisation.

·            Hold ultimate responsibility for allocating financial resources across the Council.

Role

·            Address Local Electoral Act matters and Local Government Rating Act matters.

·            Oversee all matters relating to identifying and contributing to community outcomes.

·            Consider and agree on matters relating to significant new activities or areas of involvement such as infrastructure which are not the responsibility of a specific committee.

·            Provide regional leadership on key issues that require a collaborative approach between a number of parties.

·            Review and decide the Council’s electoral and representation arrangements.

·            Consider issues of regional significance which are not the responsibility of any specific standing committee or that are of such regional significance/high public interest that the full Council needs to decide on them.

·            Adopt Council’s Policy on Significance and Engagement Policy.

·            Develop, adopt and implement the Triennial Agreement, Code of Conduct and Standing Orders.

·            Consider and agree on matters relating to elected members’ remuneration.

·            Appoint the Chief Executive, and review their contract, performance and remuneration at least annually.

·            Approve all delegations to the Chief Executive, including the authority for further delegation to staff.

·            Oversee the work of all committees and subcommittees.

·            Receive and consider recommendations and matters referred to it by its committees, joint committees, subcommittees and working parties.

·            Approve membership to external bodies and organisations, including Council Controlled Organisations.

·            Develop, adopt and review policies for, and monitor the performance of, Council Controlled Organisations.

·            Monitor and review the achievement of outcomes for the Bay of Plenty Community.

·            Review and approve strategic matters relating to the sale, acquisition and development of property for the purposes of meeting Council’s organisational requirements and implement Regional Council policy.

·            Address strategic corporate matters including property and accommodation.

·            Consider and agree on the process to develop the Long Term Plan, Annual Plan and Annual Report.

·            Adopt the Long Term Plan, Annual Plan and budgets variations, and Annual Report.

·            Adopt Council policies as required by statute (for example Regional Policy Statement and Regional Land Transport Strategy) to be decided by Council or outside of committee delegations (for example infrastructure policy).

·            Develop, review and approve Council’s Financial Strategy and funding and financial policies and frameworks.

·            Institute any proceedings in the High Court that are not injunctive proceedings.

·            Exercise the powers and duties conferred or imposed on Council by the Public Works Act 1981.

Delegations from Council to committees

·            Council has a role to monitor the functioning of all committees.

·            Council will consider matters not within the delegation of any one Council committee.

·            Council may at any time, revoke or modify a delegation to a Council committee, either permanently, for a specified time or to address a specific matter, if it considers there is good reason to do so.

·            The delegations provided to committees may be further delegated to subcommittees unless the power of further delegation is restricted by Council or by statute.

·            It is accepted in making these delegations that:

·            The committees, in performing their delegated functions, powers or duties, may, without confirmation by the Council, exercise or perform them in a like manner and with the same effect as the Council itself could have exercised or performed them.

·            The delegated powers given shall at all times be subject to their current policies and principles or directions, as given by the Council from time to time.

·            The chairperson of each committee shall have the authority to exercise their discretion, as to whether or not the delegated authority of the committee be used where, in the opinion of the chairperson, circumstances warrant it.

Powers that cannot be delegated

Under Clause 32 Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002, Council must make the following decisions:

·            Make a rate.

·            Make a bylaw.

·            Borrow money or purchase or dispose of assets, other than in accordance with the long-term plan.

·            Adopt the long-term plan, annual plan, or annual report.

·            Appoint a chief executive.

·            Adopt policies required to be adopted and consulted on under the Local Government Act 2002 in association with the long-term plan or developed for the purpose of the local governance statement.

·            Adopt a remuneration and employment policy.


 

Livestreaming and Recording of Meetings

Please note the Public section of this meeting is being recorded and streamed live on Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s website in accordance with Council's Live Streaming and Recording of Meetings Protocols which can be viewed on Council’s website. The recording will be archived and made publicly available on Council's website within two working days after the meeting on www.boprc.govt.nz for a period of three years (or as otherwise agreed to by Council).

All care is taken to maintain your privacy; however, as a visitor in the public gallery or as a participant at the meeting, your presence may be recorded. By remaining in the public gallery, it is understood your consent is given if your image is inadvertently broadcast.

Opinions expressed or statements made by individual persons during a meeting are not the opinions or statements of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Council accepts no liability for any opinions or statements made during a meeting.

 


Bay of Plenty Regional Council - Toi Moana

Governance Commitment

mō te taiao, mō ngā tāngata - our environment and our people go hand-in-hand.

 

 

We provide excellent governance when, individually and collectively, we:

·        Trust and respect each other

·        Stay strategic and focused

·        Are courageous and challenge the status quo in all we do

·        Listen to our stakeholders and value their input

·        Listen to each other to understand various perspectives

·        Act as a team who can challenge, change and add value

·        Continually evaluate what we do

 

 

TREAD LIGHTLY, THINK DEEPLY,
ACT WISELY, SPEAK KINDLY, JOURNEY TOGETHER.


Regional Council                                                                              27 May 2024

Recommendations in reports are not to be construed as Council policy until adopted by Council.

Agenda

E te Atua nui tonu, ko mātau ēnei e inoi atu nei ki a koe, kia tau mai te māramatanga ki a mātau whakarite mō tēnei rā, arahina hoki mātau, e eke ai te ōranga tonu ki ngā āhuatanga katoa a ngā tangata ki tō mātau rohe whānui tonu. Āmine.

 

 

“Almighty God we ask that you give us wisdom in the decisions we make here today and give us guidance in working with our regional communities to promote their social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being.  Amen”.

1.      Opening Karakia

2.      Apologies

3.      Items not on the Agenda

4.      Declaration of Conflicts of Interest

5.      Reports

Decisions Required

5.1      Adoption of SmartGrowth Strategy (including Future Development Strategy)                                                                 1

Attachment 1 - PLACEHOLDER. - SmartGrowth Strastegy (to be distributed once available)      1

6.      Consideration of Items not on the Agenda

7.      Closing Karakia


 

 

 

Report To:

Regional Council

Meeting Date:

27 May 2024

Report Writer:

Antoine Coffin, Manager, Spatial Planning

Report Authoriser:

Namouta Poutasi, General Manager, Strategy and Science

Purpose:

 

 

 

Adoption of SmartGrowth Strategy (including Future Development Strategy)

 

Executive Summary

An 18-month review of the SmartGrowth Strategy including a special consultative procedure is now complete.  The Strategy including the Future Development Strategy is ready for consideration and final approval. 

The SmartGrowth Strategy is a 30 year plus strategy which sets the strategic vision and direction for the growth and development of the sub-region. It includes the Future Development Strategy, a requirement of the National Policy Statement for Urban Development 2020.

The next steps are to prepare a Funding and Implementation Plan. 

Recommendations

That the Regional Council:

1       Receives the report, Adoption of SmartGrowth Strategy (including Future Development Strategy);

2       Adopts the SmartGrowth Strategy 2024-2074 and the Future Development Strategy including the amendments recommended by the SmartGrowth Hearings Panel;

3       Notes the Key Actions recommended by the Panel for future consideration as part of the Implementation and Funding Plan;

4       Notes the delegation of authority to the Independent Chair to make any minor corrections to the Strategy, Executive Summary and Decision Document;

5       Confirms the decision has a high level of significance as determined by the Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy. Council has identified and assessed different options and considered community views as part of making the decision, in proportion to the level of significance.

 

1.        Introduction

SmartGrowth is a comprehensive, 30 year plus strategy which sets the strategic vision and direction for the growth and development of the sub-region. The strategy provides a framework to manage growth in an integrated and collaborative way in order to address complex planning issues, especially matters that cross over council boundaries.

The SmartGrowth partnership is made up of Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, tāngata whenua and central government. Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ), the Transport System Plan, Priority One2 and Water Services are also implementation partners.

This Strategy is based on an envisioned population scenario of 400,000 people over the next 50 plus years. It has a particular focus on the next 30 years but does consider growth over a 50-year period.

This Strategy has been informed by existing strategies, plans and information as well as data held by the partners. This includes the Urban Form and Transport Initiative (UFTI), the Western Bay of Plenty Transport System Plan (TSP), local spatial plans, the Housing Action Plan and other key documents.

The regional council has been an active partner since the strategy inception in 2000.  Most recently this is reflected in participation in governance, leadership, implementation, funding support, and technical advice.

1.1      Legislative Framework

Under the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) 2020, the purpose of a Future Development Strategy is to promote long-term strategic planning by setting out how a local authority intends to:

•    achieve well-functioning urban environments in its existing and future urban areas

•    provide at least sufficient development capacity over the next 30 years to meet expected demand; and

•    assist the integration of planning decisions with infrastructure planning and funding decisions.

Tier 1 urban environments are required to have a Future Development Strategy.  Tauranga – Western Bay of Plenty is a tier 1 urban environment. 

The Future Development Strategy is an integral part of Part 4 of the Smart Growth Strategy.  The Future Development Strategy is informed by SmartGrowth Housing and Business Capacity Assessment 2022, and integrated with the other parts of the strategy particularly the Connected Centres (Part 2)  and Spatial Plan (Part 3).

 

1.2      Alignment with Strategic Framework

 

A Healthy Environment

 

Freshwater for Life

 

Safe and Resilient Communities

 

A Vibrant Region

 

The Way We Work

We look to partnerships for best outcomes.

This work aligns with our strategic direction.

1.2.1    Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

¨ Environmental

 

¨ Cultural

 

¨ Social

 

¨ Economic

 

The SmartGrowth Strategy seeks to address the four well-beings through a range of environmental, social, cultural and economic objectives throughout the strategy.  Furthermore, six transformational shifts and complimentary growth directives guide the priorities for implementation of the plan. 

These transformational shifts are:

1.   Homes for Everyone

2.   Marae as Centres and Opportunities for Whenua Māori

3.   Emissions Reduction through Connected Centres

4.   Strong economic corridors linking the East and West to the City and the Port

5.   Restore and enhance eco-systems for future generations

6.   Radical change to the delivery, funding and financing model for growth.

 

1.3      Significance

The recommended proposal/decision has been assessed against the criteria and thresholds in Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy, and can be considered:

High

The decision will potentially cause major impacts on the environmental, social, economic or cultural interests of most of the Bay of Plenty community.

 

2.        SmartGrowth Strategy

2.1      Process of review

The SmartGrowth Strategy was developed over an 18-month period through a collaborative process with partners and stakeholders. The Strategy was notified for submissions under the Local Government Act “Special Consultative Procedure” (SCP).

Submissions were open from 18 September 2023 to 20 October 2023.  86 submissions were received.  A full copy of the submissions and a summary of submissions is available on the SmartGrowth Website www.smartgrowthbop.org.nz/news/smartgrowth-strategy-submissions

Hearings of submissions on the Draft SmartGrowth Strategy 2024-2074 (SmartGrowth Strategy) were held on 4 and 5 December 2023.  The Hearings Panel heard from 34 submitters.

The Hearings Panel held an informal workshop on 7 and 8 February 2024 where it considered draft “Issues and Options Papers” (IOPs) prepared by “Topic Leads” to inform deliberations. The workshop focused whether the draft information would be sufficient and appropriate to support its deliberations on submissions. Guidance was given on reporting, and no substantive decisions were made.

Site visits were held on Tuesday 20 February 2024.

Formal deliberations took place at meetings of the Hearings Panel on 28 February, 1 March and 19 March 2024. These meeting were open to the public and live streamed.

Topic Leads attended the deliberations meetings where they presented their IOPs, identifying the key issues, answering questions from the Panel, and assisting the Panel with formulating recommendations and reasons supporting these. The IOPs are available on the SmartGrowth Website and provide background to the recommendations.

A broader overview of the SmartGrowth journey is included in Figure 1 illustrating the iterations of SmartGrowth Strategy since 2013.

Additional feedback was received by the SmartGrowth Leadership Group and referred back to the SmartGrowth Hearing Panel.  The Panel reconvened to discuss and resolve matters on 13 May 2024.  The updated agreed version will be circulated with the SmartGrowth agenda.

 

2.2      Contents of Strategy

The strategy has five parts.

Part 1 sets out the description of the sub-region, background of SmartGrowth and the Strategy, the vision, objectives and transformational shifts.

Part 2 sets out the growth challenge and opportunities, growth scenario and relationship to local place-making

Part 3 is the spatial plan providing a lens on topics that are important for the live, work, play and learn philosophy.  These include; areas to be protected and developed carefully, tāngata whenua, climate resilience, Te Taiao, Rural, urban form and centres, housing, 3 waters and infrastructure, social infrastructure and well-being, and economic wellbeing.

Part 4 contains the Future Development Strategy, the areas for development over 30 years, infrastructure needs, strategic priorities and housing projections/allocations.

Part 5 is the implementation section, setting out high level scope of the Funding and Implementation Plan.

3.        Considerations

3.1      Risks and Mitigations

As noted the Funding and Implementation Plan will be developed and refined over the next few months. The key risk relates to affordability of implementation.

3.2      Climate Change

The SmartGrowth Strategy has a dedicated chapter on climate resilience which sets out 3 core principles which apply to transport, urban development and protected biodiversity.  There are also 3 growth directives:

·     Nature-based solutions and water sensitive urban design are prioritised and used in urban areas.

·     Coastal, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems are enhanced to improve carbon storage and resilience to climate change.

·     Development and infrastructure are planned to be resilient and adaptive to climate change and natural hazardsThe strategy emphasises the urgency and complexity of the climate change crisis that requires actions at a new depth and scale.

The strategy also recognises the integration of the climate change challenge in many other others throughout the strategy providing a lattice work of relevant principles, integrated directives and challenges.

 

 

3.3      Implications for Māori

Tangata Whenua have been a partner to the strategy since 2000. The SmartGrowth Strategy is supported by the Combined Tangata Whenua Forum, made up of representatives of iwi and hapū in the sub-region.  They meet on a bi-monthly basis and are serviced by TuPakari advisors.  The Combined Tangata Whenua Forum has been an active participant in the review of the Strategy and FDS, holding workshops, online sessions, identifying area of interest and concern.

The strategy has a particular focus on topics of interest to tangata whenua.  These include:

·     Relationships with their whenua, wai, and taonga

·     Tangata whenua aspirations for Māori land and papakainga development

·     The importance of water

·     The linkages of mountains, the sea and natural features

·     Respect and care for people

·     Environmental reciprocity and responsibility.

3.4      Community Engagement

The review of the SmartGrowth Strategy has involved a special consultative procedure, a formal process to receive submissions, hear those submissions and make deliberations.  Some 90 submissions (500 submission points) were received and hearings were held in December 2023. Deliberations of the hearing panel were held in January-May 2024.

The Regional Council was represented on the panel by one its SmartGrowth Leadership Group members.

The Regional Council provided support to the hearing process with topic leads of three Issues and Options papers, and planning/subject matter expert inputs where required by the secretariat and authors of Issues and Options reports. 

3.5      Financial Implications

The SmartGrowth project involves annual grant contributions as a partner.  These have been on a 42.5% share of costs of administration including the secretariat, Combined Tangata Whenua Forum and activities set out in the annual budget.

In early 2024 the regional Council informed SmartGrowth partners that the council would be setting its future annual contribution to $418,500 a reduction of 10% from its $465,000 in the 2023-2024 financial year. This was due to cost savings sought across the organisation in a financially constrained environment.  The final funding amount will be confirmed through the Long Term Plan in June 2024. [If relevant, Insert text]

It is expected that the SmartGrowth secretariat will be required to work within the budget envelope.

The regional council has employed significant staff resources to support the review of the strategy.  Staff will continue to support BUA activities and have programmed some of the implementation activities post Strategy adoption.  At present these known activities are within the current operational budgets and team capacity.

The Funding and Implementation Plan to be developed post strategy adoption will provide clarity of future costs needed to be accounted for.  It is unclear at this stage the details of what may be anticipated, however, significant unbudgeted costs will require approval through normal internal processes.

4.        Next Steps

The next steps to implement the SmartGrowth Strategy and Future Development Strategy will be at the sub-regional and partner level.

Key sub-regional steps include the development and adoption of a Funding and Implementation Plan.  Scoping, format and themes have been identified, with further work required to articulate priority actions for the next three years. The current timeframe for completing the Funding and Implementation Plan is September 2024. 

In the background are a number of strategic partnerships that influence the implementation of SmartGrowth.  These include:

·     The Western Bay Transport System Plan (TSP)

·     The Kainga Ora proposed Tauriko Specified Development project

 

Attachments

Attachment 1 - PLACEHOLDER. - SmartGrowth Strastegy (to be distributed once available)  

 


Regional Council                                                                       27 May 2024

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