Draft Māpua Masterplan - what's happening?

Thanks to your support and input, we have now reached an important stage in the Māpua Masterplan process.

The Masterplan will be a key document for the future of the area and for the last two years we have been engaging with iwi, stakeholders and the Māpua community to ensure it reflects the aspirations of this growing coastal settlement.

The process to date has yielded a draft Māpua Masterplan illustrating a series of housing, business, cultural, open space, ecological, infrastructure, recreational and movement actions which set the direction for Māpua. The Masterplan includes;

• Proposed zoning changes
• Future infrastructure upgrades
• Planned recreational linkages and open spaces
• Catchment management planning

The most recent consultation for the draft Masterplan was open between 1 November 2024 and 16 February 2025. During this time, we received 133 submissions. The submissions are a key part of the consultation process for the Māpua Masterplan.

This valuable feedback provided a great foundation for our Hearings Panel to assess the information from the community. Around 30 submitters presented their submissions to the panel in person or via Zoom.

From there, deliberations will take place in May, with adoption of the Māpua Masterplan later this year.

The Māpua Masterplan will guide multiple council processes including infrastructure strategies, catchment and asset management plans, the 10-Year Plan, and policies and rules which form part of the Tasman Resource Management Plan.

We’re planning for future growth and development in Māpua, and we need your feedback to guide our future conversations.

In te reo Māori, Māpua translates to ‘a place of abundance’ and there are plenty of reasons why people choose to live in or visit this wonderful part of Tasman. How we go about maintaining its character while managing key projects and changes in the years ahead requires careful consideration.

The aim of the Māpua Masterplan is to develop an integrated plan, in collaboration with the community and iwi, that brings together Council planning processes to address key issues and opportunities. More importantly, it should reflect the aspirations of this growing coastal community.

The Council decided to bring together several major Council planning processes in Māpua – the structure plan, catchment management plan, reserve development, Council land commercial development, and waterfront area development, into a single plan - the Māpua Masterplan.

The result of pulling together the various Council processes into a single plan will ensure that consultation is effectively coordinated, and decision making is cohesive in Māpua.

We have heard from community members through the 2022 Māpua Structure Plan process and various other councils projects and we will be building off what we have learnt and know are the issues in Māpua to develop the masterplan including the structure plan documentation.

The Māpua Masterplan will guide multiple council processes including infrastructure strategies, catchment and asset management plans, the Long term Plan and policies and rules which form part of the Tasman Environment Plan and TRMP Plan Changes.

It is an important document for the future of the area and we are engaging with iwi, stakeholders and the community to ensure it reflects the aspirations of this growing coastal community.

Note: In 2021 and 2022 Council consulted with the public regarding the use of the reserves within the Māpua Masterplan area and prepared and adopted the Moutere-Waimea Ward Reserves Management Plan (2022) under the Reserves Act 1977.

This reserves management plan (RMP) contains management objectives and policies for all Council-administered park and reserve areas located within the Masterplan area. The RMP has a 10-year life, meaning that management of these reserves will not be included within the Māpua Masterplan, however, three reserves were identified within the RMP as requiring further public consultation: Māpua Recreation Reserve, Grossi Point Recreation Reserve, and Māpua Waterfront Park. Consultation on these reserves will be included in the Māpua Masterplan Project.

Council also contributed to the review of the non-statutory ‘Waimea Inlet Management Strategy 2050 and Action Plan 2023-2026’, which was adopted by the Strategy and Policy Committee on 24 August 2023. The Māpua Masterplan will seek to align with the policy direction of the Waimea Inlet Strategy and Action Plan.

Both documents (including an extract of the Moutere-Waimea Ward RMP) can be found in the ‘Resources’ section on this page.

Any questions?

If you have any questions and/or comments for the team please email us at mapuamasterplan@tasman.govt.nz