The designer of Tauranga's waterfront master plan has used the plan's consent hearing to attack Priority One's commercially driven alternative for the Tauranga waterfront.

Martin Bryant, principal of Wellington based landscape designers Wraight and Associates, says commercially driven waterfront developments don't work.

'I disagree with whether their direction would be successful,” says Martin today speaking outside the hearing.

Wraight and Associates' vision for Tauranga's waterfront redevelopment.

Martin's worked on waterfront design in Auckland, Australia and Wellington, and says the significant redevelopment of public space has to be publicly driven.

'That will trigger and catalyse further commercial development in the future, which is not the subject of this consent,” says Martin.

'For anyone to project an idea that commercial operators are just going to roll in here at the drop of a hat and start to buy/lease land and have successful cafes and so on is crazy.”

It is an idea attractive to councillors because they think they will get a ‘no' or ‘low cost' redevelopment, says Martin.

Priority One has not presented a business plan backing-up its proposal to fund the waterfront redevelopment through commercial leases.

Priority One's plan for Tauranga's waterfront redevelopment, read earlier article about it here.

'Priority One hasn't got a series of subscribed operators who would be prepared to go and not only build their own operation, but also build parts of the public realm as well,” says Martin.

'It just doesn't happen like that in Australasia, it probably doesn't happen in the world like that where commercial operators are moved into a bit of land.

'They are not going to spend half a million bucks building their own operation, then another half a million fixing up the landscape of the public space.

'I just can't see it happening. Their returns are so small on those single storey retail outlets that it just wouldn't happen.

'I'm not an economist, but I have worked on these kind of things before and every time it's been mooted the people get proper business plans worked out; what can happen, work out where all the custom's going to come from, and where all the operators are going to come from, and how much they are prepared to pay.”

Priority One's option seems a shallow attempt to try and divert the attention from where it should be, which is just to fix up the public space, says Martin.

Tauranga City Council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council are seeking resource consent to redevelop the Tauranga waterfront.

The consent sought will have a life of 35 years and in effect bundles together the waterfront redevelopment area, which currently is covered by a variety of different zonings.

The hearing is before independent commissioners Greg Hill, Peter Crawford and Jason Ward.