Work is under way on a refreshed growth strategy as the Kāpiti Coast braces for an estimated 30,000 new residents during the next 30 years.

The growth forecast is much bigger than previous estimates.

Kāpiti Coast District Council says its existing growth strategy, the Development Management Strategy, is now outdated, relies on underlying assumptions that have either happened or no longer hold true, and fails to capture emerging challenges and opportunities.

Mayor K Gurunathan says Kāpiti has had big growth in recent decades and planning is needed for about 30,000 new residents in the next three decades – the equivalent of Raumati and Paraparaumu combined.

“Our refreshed growth strategy will provide a broad framework for how we do this by identifying locations for future growth across the district, options for housing density, and the timing and sequencing of providing for and initiating development,” he says. “Preparing for growth is about more than just freeing up land though – we need to plan together, as a community, for things like protecting our environment, how we move around the district, the infrastructure required, what our open spaces look like and how we preserve the things that make Kāpiti a great place to call home.”

The new strategy will include principles to guide growth and scenarios for what growth might look like, ahead of discussions with the community and formal consultation in July. (To see more about the refreshed strategy see  https://www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/your-council/projects/growth-strategy/

Looking regionally at projected growth, consultation on the draft Wellington Regional Growth Framework, the product of 18 months of collaboration between central and local governments and mana whenua, has also begun throughout the Wellington region and Horowhenua.

The framework is a long-term vision for how the region will grow to accommodate an additional 200,000 people over the next 30+ years.

In Kāpiti, the framework identifies two new areas to investigate for residential development – south of Waikanae and in the broader Te Horo and Peka Peka areas. It also focuses on increasing the density of residential development around transport hubs and applying the National Policy Statement on Urban Development objectives to remove barriers to the supply of land and infrastructure, and make room to grow up and out.

Consultation closes on Monday, May 10.

Have your say at: https://wrgf.co.nz/have-your-say/