Rejecting Tauranga’s heart and soul

Tauranga is changing its community outcomes. File photo.

City councillors are today considering rejecting Tauranga as a city with heart and soul, as councillors consider a new set of community outcomes to be included in next year's Long Term Plan.

Tauranga as ‘A city with heart and soul', is one of the current community outcomes adopted in the 2015/2025 Long Term Plan.

The community outcomes are used as a guide, underpinning staff decision making and recommendations to councillors in committee report on agenda items.

Also included in the current community outcomes are: A talented and innovative city full of opportunity, and; A city of great spaces, places and environments.

Councillors are today being asked to replace them with a new set of five community outcomes:

Protects and enhances the natural environment

  • Is compact and well planned, with a variety of successful and thriving centres
  • Attracts businesses, people and visitors
  • Is inclusive, safe and healthy
  • Has predictable travel times and transport choice

But no heart and soul.

Content being developed for the new Long Term Plan is intended to achieve a balance between economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing, along with well-planned urban form and an effective transport network, say the report to be presented today by corporate and policy planner Matthew Leighton.

Stating the community outcomes are a legal requirement for the council under the Local Government Act 2002.

The Act stipulates that community outcomes must be described for the local authority's district or region, defining community outcomes as ‘the outcomes that a local authority aims to achieve in meeting the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions'.

The community outcomes not only help frame the city's Long Term Plan, but are required as part of the consideration of the Revenue and Financing Policy, and as part of the council Activity statements.

The proposed replacement community outcomes reflect the Council's and Committees' agreed strategic direction endorsed by Council on May 16, 2017.

The new community outcomes are developed to balance economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing, to achieve a higher standard of living for all and make Tauranga an internationally competitive city,” says Matthew's report to council.

'They are consistent with our strategy of focusing on sound city foundations, quality of life and quality of economy. The community outcomes are aligned with our activities and contribute to the development of the Revenue and Financing Policy.”

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6 comments

Lost ages ago

Posted on 20-11-2017 10:59 | By Border Patrol

Tauranga lost it's heart and soul a long time ago. We have next to no historical buildings left, the town centre doesn't know what it is and places like the Mount, are now full of the wealthy few. Mature trees have been lost to development, and the sprawl which has been allowed to develop (like Papamoa and developments like that mooted for Te Tumu and the Omokoroa Peninsula) seem to continue unabated. It seems that the councils first priorities have been to the developers to the detriment of the other things that make this area a special place to live.


Here Here

Posted on 20-11-2017 13:47 | By rastus

An absolute load of academic arty farty crapolla - If the council was just to get on with its knitting we would all be better off - only one mission statement they should be aiming for 'Tauranga a great place to live' (and that has not cost them a cent - wonder how much they paid to the bag of bull that prepared the above) This is exactly the cause(s) of so many local council thought patterns - all the fancy statements in the world do not equate to better roads, CBD parking rubbish collections and general services to the rate paying residents. Its about time the elected members went to the huge bureaucracy in council staff and started getting rid of all these 'so called' experts in everything and concentrated on the real works to be done which at the end of the day are prettybasic


*Border Patrol

Posted on 20-11-2017 13:55 | By Maryfaith

Well said - you echoed my thoughts. and soul. You are right - as I have said before, developers have run this city for decades and we have the result - a city without a heart or soul. More a city with a terminal disease!


@boderpatrol

Posted on 20-11-2017 14:46 | By NZer

Urban sprawl happens in all cities and towns... where are people meant to live in your opinion then?


here we go again

Posted on 20-11-2017 16:04 | By old trucker

agree with border control and Maryfaith, you both are right, the so called stiff shirts at council have NO Heart or Soul, they are always planning things, they will get their NEW BAUBLES soon and it will blow out to $50million,watch this space, they could have left t he building there and used it for a museum etc, but NO,THESE MOB OF SUIT WEARING MANICURED know it alls to tell us what we want,and we will get it even if ratepayers say no, its probably already signed off,anyway Sunlive won the BEST NEWS IN NZ how AWESOME,Thankyou,10-4 out. phew.


Heart and soul...

Posted on 20-11-2017 21:48 | By morepork

... have little to do with buildings, which, by definition, have neither. Buildings can reflect the heart and soul of a community, in design and decoration, but they don't define it. That comes down to the people who live there. Council are right to set aside an emotive cliche which they demonstrably have never understood, and concentrate on more tangible, sensible, and worthwhile goals for our City. Once those are achieved, perhaps the more esoteric outcomes can be revisited.


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