Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

Auckland has to grow by 1.5 Hamilton's during the next 30 years to accommodate its expected population growth. That's 11,000 hectares of new zoned land!

On Monday we visited Auckland Council to see how they're coping with their population growth spurt. It's great to share information on what has worked, and what has not.

We saw Auckland's new subdivisions where developers were pleasantly surprised at the demand for affordable, compact living.

This happened where there were good amenities close by, which helped change people's housing expectations.

Auckland showed me there are different housing types for different people. Tauranga needs to build communities around why people choose to live, for example, at Papamoa versus The Lakes and vice versa.

Land and infrastructure are key drivers of house prices. The costs of maintaining infrastructure also drives a large part of your ongoing rates bill. It's not the width of the underground pipes, but the length of road we need to dig up and reseal that drives maintenance costs.

Tauranga has tried to zone areas for compact living in the past and it didn't work. People thought it would cause overcrowded slums.

This is true if we allow the traditional ‘cut and fill' approach where people subdivide and squeeze dwellings on their properties. Good intensification requires more elegance than that.

Ongoing urban sprawl into productive rural land, which feeds our urban economy, is not the answer. But density is not the solution for everyone.

As a community we need to start making sensible trade-offs to provide quality, affordable living to suit different people's needs.

By the way, Auckland is aiming for 40 per cent intensification to accommodate its future population, while Tauranga is currently aiming for a modest five to 10 per cent.

Feel free to email me your thoughts at matt.cowley@tauranga.govt.nz, call/text me on 027 698 9548, and follow me at www.facebook.com/a.younger.voice