Tauranga was the first city in New Zealand to utilise the IFF Act to secure funds for its transport infrastructure. The TSP reached financial close in late 2022, with $177m of IFF funding being provided to Tauranga City Council (TCC) to deliver a programme of 13 transport projects under the Western Bay of Plenty TSP. This funding model raised significant capital to support urban development in the rapidly growing Western Bay of Plenty region with the TSP projected to support a forecasted population of 258,000 residents and 24,000 new homes in Tauranga, with a projected one million extra transport movements per day by 2050.
| Programme | Infrastructure Funding and Financing |
| Project Owner | Tauranga City Council |
| Infrastructure Type | Transport |
| Levy Payers | City Wide (TCC ratepayers) |
| IFF Funding Provided | $177m |
| Debt raised | $198m |
| Lenders | Westpac BNZ |
| Debt Term | 30 year fixed rate (30 year floating to fixed rate interest rate swap) |
| Levy Amounts in first levy year (FY25) | Residential rating unit: ~$70 per $1.0m CV property Commercial rating unit: ~$297 per $1.0m CV property |
| Forecast Levy Amounts FY26 | Residential rating unit: ~$79 per $1.0m CV property Commercial rating unit: ~$346 per $1.0m CV property |
Debt Financing Structure
The debt financing structure involved non-recourse medium-term floating rate bank debt. To hedge against potential market fluctuations, a thirty-year full tenor hedge was also put in place to fix base interest rates. At the time, this swap was the longest bank-provided interest rate swap in the New Zealand capital markets.
Infrastructure Funded: The Western Bay of Plenty Transport System Plan (TSP)
The Western Bay of Plenty is one of the fastest growing regions in New Zealand and the basis of the TSP project was to support this growth. The wider TSP is made up of 72 individual projects aimed at improving travel and urban development in the area and includes roads, rail, public transport, walking, cycling, parking and travel demand to improve congestion. The total cost of delivering this infrastructure was estimated at ~$800m.
The IFF model was considered as an alternative source of funding to enable a subset of the wider TSP projects to be delivered, consisting of 13 key transport projects, including:
| Projects | Description |
| Hewletts Road sub access area | Transport infrastructure works in the Hewletts Road project area to improve access to the Port of Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. |
| Connecting the People Fifteenth Avenue to Welcome Bay Transport | Infrastructure works on the route between City Centre fringe and Fifteenth Avenue, Turret Road and Welcome Bay to improve access to and from Te Papa Peninsula and City Centre. |
| Tauriko West enabling works package | Transport infrastructure works to support new urban development and housing in Tauriko West, while also supporting the inter-regional freight movement function of SH29. |
| Cameron Road multi-modal upgrade stage 1 | Transport works (including public transport, cycling and walking) on Cameron Road between Harington Street and Tauranga Hospital. |
| Cameron Road multi-modal upgrade Stage 2 | Transport infrastructure works (including public transport, cycling and walking) on Cameron Road between 15th Avenue Tauranga Hospital area and through Barkes Corner to integrate with Pyes Pa Road. |
| Cameron Road corridor connections | Transport infrastructure works to improve access to Cameron Road to support the use of bus, walking and cycling facilities delivered in the stage 1 and 2 upgrade works. |
| Primary cycle route facilities (Accessible Streets Area A) | Improvements to walking, cycling and public transport facilities in Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and the CBD. |
| Primary cycle route facilities (Accessible Streets Area B) | Improvements to walking, cycling and public transport facilities in Otumoetai, Bellevue, and Brookfield. |
| Tauranga Crossing bus facility improvements | Transport infrastructure, including a public transport hub, to support multi-modal access to and from the Tauriko commercial area in and around Tauranga Crossing. |
| City Centre transport hub | Transport infrastructure, including a public transport hub and support for active transport modes, to support multi-modal access to and from the city centre. |
| Barkes Corner to Tauranga Crossing multi-modal (local road component) | Transport infrastructure works to improve public transport connections between 3 some local roads and SH36 on the corridor between Cameron Road and the Tauriko commercial centre in and around Tauranga crossing. |
| SH2 revocation (Cameron Road to Bethlehem) | Transport infrastructure works to support improvements to local roading networks to integrate with the revocation of the existing SH2. |
| Maunganui road future proofing | Infrastructure upgrades to roading, cycling and pedestrian facilities to improve safety and speed management. Enables improved connections and parking amenities to Blake Park & Mt Maunganui College. |
Click here for more information on the IFF programme
