RMLA Hamilton 2011
Spatial Planning & Infrastructure
John Duffy, GM Planning & Design, Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Ltd
October 2011
Infrastructure…what is it?
‘Infrastructure’ is the fixed, long-lived structures that facilitate
the production of goods and services and underpin many
aspects of quality of life. “infrastructure’ refers to physical
networks,
principally
transport,
water,
energy
and
communications’
National Infrastructure Plan 2011
What are we providing & where?
Who can tell me what
our plan is?
The big banana – who are we planning for?
Northland…untapped potential
Industry Strengths &
Aspirations
 Aquaculture
Infrastructure
Challenges
 Marine Shipping
 Freight/ holiday traffic conflicts (holiday
highway v rail to port)
 Tourism
 Sporadic development
 Clean Energy
 Lack of development to support
investment, lot of available land for it
 Petrochemicals
 Forestry
 Absentee holiday homers (peak
demands)
Auckland… world’s most liveable city
Industry Strengths &
Aspirations

Food & Beverage

Health technologies

Marine/ Port

ICT

Manufacturing (declining)

Export Education

Tourism

Screen Production

Financial Services
Infrastructure Challenges

Freight and passenger transport user
conflicts (motorways and rail capacity)

Reliability or water supply & aging
infrastructure

Power (lack of local generation)

Lack of affordable housing

Education/ Innovation hubs – who pays

Funding the costs of growth
Waikato… the engine room
Industry Strengths &
Aspirations

World class rural, aggregate, fishery and
mineral resources
Infrastructure Challenges

Transport improvements –Road,
Rail, ports?

Absentee holiday homers (peak
demands)\

Plenty of water, but a number of
waterways over allocated or of poor
quality

Tourism

Freight Logistics hub

Biotechnology, R&D supporting food
industry

Education


Renewable energy (wind, geothermal,
hydro)
Numerous TLAs with limited
resources

Funding the costs of growth

Already a regional export economy
Bay of Plenty..plenty going on
Industry Strengths &
Aspirations
 Deep water export port with
industry surrounding
 Agriculture & Horticulture
 Aquaculture
 Tourism
 Forestry
 Marine Industry
 Education
Infrastructure Challenges
 Sunk cost of infrastructure
investment to facilitate growth vs
rate of growth and investment?
 Cost of new infrastructure for
economic development in small
communities (e.g. Opotiki wharf)
What could all this mean - governance
 Cross Boundary co-operation & organisation
 A centralised framework for considering and directing
infrastructure investment (removing local bias?)
 Reduction in number of agencies delivering municipal services
 A need for consistency, to develop understand the plan & stick to
it;
 Need to connect with business & global markets & improve
strategic relationships and partnerships
What could all this mean - practice
 Regulatory consistency
 Coastal settlements, developing infrastructure for extreme
annual utilisation peak events – set clear limits or spread the
costs more widely?
 Review level of service expectations, should we be sealing
rural roads?
 Be proactive, consultative, inquiring and innovative – taking a
world view, engage better with industries to understand their
needs and requirements better
What could all this mean – outcome
 A lifestyle region rivalling anything in Australasia.
 A leading Southern Pacific economic conurbation.
 Integrated approach to major industrial, infrastructural
and economic development planning
 Innovative super-regional solutions to accommodating
growth and spreading demand
 Protection of some of NZs best rural resources and
natural assets through strategic planning