Independent views By Brendan Horan

The Development Contribution Amendment known as the affordable housing bill may work in larger regions, such as Auckland, but is not good for Tauranga.

Tauranga is a developing and evolving city struggling to keep pace with growth and the provision of essential facilities.

The stated intention of this bill is to make housing cheaper by changing and limiting what councils can charge for, and how councils spend development impact fees.

These are fees councils currently charge developers for council-provided amenities.

Commercial and industrial developers under the change will no longer be required to contribute to the provision of community assets, such as parks, reserves and aquatic centres – facilities provided for residents and workers alike.

Residential dwellers and developers will pick up the costs.

How this charge restricted to industrial and commercial developers will impact on cheaper housing is a mystery to me.

Perhaps it is because those in power believe it will help Auckland out of their dire housing shortage, or perhaps the real reason is the number of voters in Auckland.

Whatever the reason, it is bad news for Tauranga, and will cost ratepayers 10s of millions of dollars just for projects that are on the ground at the moment.

I applaud our council for submitting against this bill.

Developer contributions are not as the Government claims (a ‘nice to have') but essential ingredients in the social intermixing of communities.

The contributions are in my view a ‘must have' for the healthy wellbeing of residents and workers.

The course this Government is taking is typical of those with a primary focus on economy and fiscal prosperity rather than the social wellbeing of the people.

I believe community matters, and encourage all parties to vote against it.