Māpua is looking at a stronger plan for the future. Photo: 123RF
Feedback is being sought on a masterplan to cater to future growth in the coastal town of Māpua, west of Nelson.
The Tasman District Council is bringing together several major planning processes in the small town - structure planning, catchment management and land development.
Infrastructure planning team leader David Arseneau said the council wanted feedback to ensure the Māpua Masterplan reflected the aspirations of the growing coastal community.
He said it was the first time the council had brought together as many different areas of council operations as it could, in one plan.
"Late last year, we realised that there was maybe one too many things going on in Māpua that involved engagement with the community and iwi.
"We were starting to get feedback that there was maybe a little bit of engagement fatigue, having to kind of tell different council people, the same things twice, provide the same feedback in multiple streams, and that it might not be getting shared as well as possible internally."
Arseneau said the masterplan had resulted in a "one stop shop" approach to planning, which enabled a broader scope and more strategic vision.
It will include the Māpua structure plan, which determines residential and industrial zoning, along with the catchment management plan, which looks at improving stormwater infrastructure and managing flood risk.
The masterplan will also include the management of council-owned commercial land and the waterfront area development.
Around 2500 people call Māpua and Te Mamaku/Ruby Bay home, with the population expected to grow by 13.5 per cent in the 10 years to 2028.
Arseneau said Māpua was well poised for growth, and there had been a fair amount of infrastructure investment in the town over the past few years in anticipation of its growing population.
"It's quite frankly a very desirable place to live, it's a beautiful village, lots of character, people love living there and so it becomes a very attractive place for people to move to."
Two public engagement sessions have been held in Māpua, with feedback open online at Shape Tasman until the end of the month.
Arseneau said the challenge was getting the opinions of the people who didn't attend public meetings but formed the majority of the population - as the council wanted to hear from them too.
Feedback at the public meetings had ranged from the state of the public toilets in the park, to how to plan for sea level rise and retreat from vulnerable property.
"It covered the full gamut of things people think about; trail connections, how we how we clean our parks, parking, how we better service the school in terms of traffic safety, restoring old historical wetlands... it showed a huge range of topics that people are people care about.
"We're hoping that we get a lot of more representative feedback from from a broader population base to help us catch all the little issues and opportunities in the community."
The council will present its findings the next stage of engagement, with the draft masterplan to be formally notified and circulated for public feedback.