6 March 2009
Waipa District’s Draft Growth Strategy was approved by the Strategic Planning and Development Committee this week, and will be available for public consultation alongside the 10-year Plan from 16 March – 17 April 2009.
It is a key document that describes how we will accommodate 27,000 more people over the next 40 years without compromising the character of the District, says project manager Fiona Hill.
“Our population is growing, over the last 10 years the rate of growth in the Waipa District has been greater than the Waikato Region and New Zealand as a whole. It will continue, it's anticipated that our population will grow from 42,000 (2006 census) to 70,000 by 2050. With this level of growth there are a number of challenges around the location and type of development which must be met to ensure what our residents love about the district is retained and our infrastructure is well planned. The Draft Growth Strategy sets out proposals to address these challenges.”
The Draft Growth Strategy builds on the feedback received on the scenarios last year.
“Community feedback indicated that people rated the landscape and natural features, community feel, rural environment and town character as key things they liked about the District. Looking to the future the three biggest challenges identified were maintaining the look and feel of our towns and villages, providing affordable and sustainable infrastructure (such as water and wastewater systems) and sustainable transport networks. In order to meet these challenges and retain what people like about the District we need to plan now”.
The Draft Growth Strategy identifies locations for new living and working areas as well as principles for managing growth in the rural environment through to 2050 and beyond. A key strategy is planning to accommodate 90% of the additional population in existing towns and villages with all new development being more compact.
Greater redevelopment of existing towns and villages is also proposed with careful attention being placed on its design. The growth areas shown in the final strategy will be included within a new District Plan which is due for release in mid 2010.
From March 16 copies of the Draft Strategy and a summary will be available from Council offices or libraries or can be viewed online at www.waipa2050.co.nz.
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