Tasman District Council is looking at ways to provide for the future of Port Motueka through developing a Structure Plan for the Port and adjacent areas. The purpose of the structure plan is to provide a high-level planning framework that sets out intended uses, to inform planning provisions for the Tasman Resource Management Plan and influence wider Council decision making.

Council is conscious that there are a complexity of issues, values and interests in Port Motueka with competing uses and demands, as well as a need to respond to climate change and support community resilience. We have heard that there is pressure on the use of the boat club's facilities, including parking, underutilisation of some other areas of land, a deficit of facilities for some users, increasing pressures on use and development of the Port area and significant ecological and cultural values. These issues merit a strategic planning response.

Council needs to have appropriate background information and supporting documentation to make good decisions on the Port Motueka zoning and rules and to be designed to deal with complex values, uses and increasing use. This structure plan will assist decision making on appropriate zoning (such as a potential Port Zone), as well as inputs to Council action plans and servicing programmes.

We really wanted to hear from the community beyond those well established at the Port to find out how the community were using the Port and what facilities were missing or needed to be improved. To find the answer to these questions we created a community survey which was available on this page between 5 May to 1 June 2023.

We had a fantastic response from the community with over 200 responses received. The feedback generally supported the matters that iwi and port users had previously raised with us, but also raised new issues and provided some useful solutions. There was also a range of views regarding the issues and how those issues might be resolved, with some in support and others in opposition.

You can read the feedback we received here.

Council has also previously consulted with the public in 2019 regarding the use of the reserves within the Port Motueka Structure Plan area and prepared a reserves management plan under the Reserves Act 1977. The reserves management plan contains management objectives and policies for five park and reserve areas located within the strategic plan area: North Street Recreation Reserve; Saltwater Baths Recreation Reserve; Motueka Beach Recreation Reserve; Link Park; and Moutere Inlet Esplanade Reserves. The Port Motueka Structure Plan will link in with the objectives and policies identified in the reserves management plan.

The next stage of this project is to consolidate the feedback into an Issues and Options paper which will discuss the issues identified for the port and provide some options for resolving those issues. The community will have the opportunity to feedback on the options suggested.

Please email Tania.Bray@tasman.govt.nz if you would like to be kept up to date.