A specialist three-person panel will sit down in Tauranga this week to tackle key local government reform issues facing the Bay of Plenty.

On Wednesday, Bob Owens Retirement Village will host the panel discussion on the proposed amendments to the Local Government Act 2002 in front of members of the public.

Tauranga City deputy mayor Kelvin Clout is part of a three-person panel speaking on issues regarding local government reforms.

Amendments in the bill could include changing what development contributions can be used for, encouraging more collaboration and shared services between local authorities andmaking consultation requirements more flexible.

As a result Tauranga City deputy mayor Kelvin Clout, Waikato Regional councillor Peter Buckley and A Better Hawke's Bay Trust chairman Rebecca Turner will each speak for 10-15minutes on three key questions followed by a questions and answers from members of the public.

The questions are as follows; what future issues does the Bay of Plenty face and how should Local Government prepare itself for them?

What opportunities does the Government's Local Government Reform Agenda present for the future?

What amalgamation options exist for the Bay of Plenty and which would be the most appropriate for the future?

Tauranga City deputy mayor Kelvin Clout says this should be an interesting discussion on what are some big issues currently 'on the table”.

He says one of the key issues facing Tauranga City is how local communities will fund community based facilities if the government does in fact limit development contributions.

'For example at the moment we get development contributions which cover a lot of the costs like libraries and parks for community facilities and there is talk government will limit how much council can charge for those sorts of things,” says Kelvin.

In terms of amalgamation he will raise the point of what other options are available should amalgamation not become desirable including shared services and joint procurement.

'Also what sort of commonality does Tauranga City have with Western Bay of Plenty? Some would say that we are urban but they are rural and are there benefits in either working closely together or amalgamating.

'These are some quite big issues that are going to be needed to be discussed at some stage.”

The panel discussion is at Bob Owens Retirement Village, 112 Carmichael Rd, Bethlehem from 7.30pm on Wednesday.