Waikato regional economic profile - Waikato Regional Council

6.4 Soilareas. The Structure Plan identifies land on the eastern side of Taupō town asappropriate for future industrial development. The study areas were generally identifiedfor urban expansion in the Taupō Urban Structure Plan (2004), and confirmed in TaupōDistrict 2050, the district wide growth management strategy (2006). The Structure Planreviewed this earlier work, and carried out a land constraints exercise which thenidentified gross developable areas. These gross developable areas will be rezoned toIndustrial Environment. In doing so, the northern land has been further identified asIndustrial Environment (Heavy), and land shown in the Structure Plan as sensitive, hasbeen identified as Industrial Environment (Sensitive). The gross developable areashave been identified through an economic report as generally being sufficient in landarea to cater for the next 20 years of projected demand for this type of land.The draft Coromandel Peninsula Local Area Blueprints identified areas for theexpansion of business land. These are being considered for incorporation into theThames Coromandel District Plan review. The Kopu to Thames Structure Planprovides a further 50 hectares of industrial zoning, including land on the eastern side ofState Highways 25 and 26, with the type of industrial activity to be identified throughthe District Plan review. The Structure Plan will be implemented as part of the DistrictPlan review.In June 2012 territorial authorities in the Waikato region identified 1512.6 hectares ofindustrial land in lots of greater than 50 hectares or more each, which are eitheravailable currently or are emerging. Much of this land is partially or fully serviced withnon-transport infrastructure. This indicates plentiful supply of available industrial landin many territorial authority areas, which could provide an opportunity to meetconstraints in other parts of the upper North Island.Many of the region’s soils are highly productive, and a fundamental resource for theeconomy. Soil quality is a value judgement about how suitable a soil is for a particularuse and its potential to continue providing services into the future. The most versatilesoils in Waikato are found between Hamilton and Cambridge, and around Matamataand Reporoa. However, as seen in figure 102, some of our most versatile soils arebeing used for urban development, particularly around Hamilton and Cambridge. 325Subdivision of rural land has been on the rise but is expected to plateau as a result of aWaikato District Council Plan Change. In the five year period to 2006, the amount ofrural land subdivided into properties of four hectares or less was more than the totalamount for the preceding 10 years. Thirty to 40 per cent of subdivision was on landwith the highest productive capabilities, and 75 per cent had a ‘high productivecapability for pastoral use’. 326WRC’s land fragmentation indicator suggests that Waikato district has a highproportion of subdivision on versatile soils but the Rural Plan Change, formally knownas Plan Change 14 (PC14), is intended to stem this.325Waikato Regional Council (2011a) All about soil.326Waikato Regional Council (2010, p. 95).Doc # 2069885 Page 93