Nestled on the eastern edge of Golden Bay in the Tasman Region, Port Tarakohe serves as a vital hub for both recreational activities and commercial endeavours. Throughout history, the port has played a key role in Golden Bay's economic prosperity, supporting industries like aquaculture, agriculture, mining, forestry, fishing, and tourism.

Planning for the Port has historically been short- term, which has led to issues around layout, activity bottlenecks, ad hoc facilities, a lack of space for new facilities and impacts on the natural environment. To address these issues and look to the future, a Draft Structure Plan that will be open for community consultation is now being drafted.

Purpose of a Structure Plan

The purpose of the Port Tarakohe Structure Plan is to provide a high-level planning framework that sets out intended uses of areas of Port Tarakohe.

The proposed Structure Plan will be used to inform the Council’s resource management plan and any future new planning documents and to influence wider Tasman District Council (TDC) decision-making in relation to Long Term Plan funding and work plans for various Council departments.

Spatial area

The spatial area for this proposed Structure Plan is shown in Figure 1 below.

Reason for a Structure Plan

The Council has decided to undertake this planning process for the following reasons:

• There is a complexity of issues, values, and interests in Port Tarakohe with competing uses and demands.
• Increasing pressures on use and development of the Port area in a wider sense merit a strategic planning response.
• To inform the Tasman Resource Management Plan review, there is a need to have appropriate background to make good decisions on zoning, rules etc that deals with the complex values, uses and land ownership pattern.

The proposed structure plan may indicate actions that relate to other Council roles and responsibilities e.g. leasehold arrangements, but the proposed structure plan will not bind the wider Council to anything that needs to go through other legal or regulatory processes.

Process

The process for developing this Structure Plan is as follows:

1. Collation of background information
2. Issues and Options, including engagement
3. Draft Structure Plan, including engagement
4. Final Structure Plan, including Council adoption

Following on from the completion of the Structure Plan Council will begin drafting new planning provisions to give effect to the Plan.