City plan challenged

Tauranga City councillors are promising to take another look at the city centre strategy after the issue boiled over at a recent committee meeting.

Councillor John Robson started the discussion by telling Priority One CEO Andrew Coker the submitted progress report on the Central City Strategy showed a long list of stopped or deferred projects.


A city center no one recognises, the Tauranga city plan

'We haven't delivered a Sunday market, the museum's not going anywhere, and the international hotel is dead in the water,” says John.

'Given the number of things that are stopped, dead in the water or postponed, I guess my question is: why aren't you more animated here?

'Have you given up, or is there a need to revise or review this strategy?”

Andrew Coker's reply is that the council is not holding up its end of the agreement.

'I think personally the thing that frustrates me the most is the city centre is one of the city council's biggest investments, and a lot of lip service is paid to it,” says Andrew. 'I think there is an immense opportunity to make a difference here.”

He made note of the recently cancellation of a property owners' forum, which he says had attracted a number of property owners keen to engage with TCC and progress city projects.

'I would love to see that sort of thing, a discussion with our city centre stake holders with an approach from elected members. He says at the end of the day TCC needs to play its own part.

'You have made some good decisions but again you have to recognise the investment you have got in the city centre, its huge and it needs to be nurtured. When was the last big capital expenditure in the city centre?”

City Council strategic planner Adele Hatfield says a significant amount of Priority One members' funds have gone into background research on the viability of a conference centre and on work towards an international hotel.

'There's only so much that we can do by ourselves on a $45,000 budget, and it doesn't lead to the big game changers that will transform the city centre,” says Adele.

John says Priority One's report showed a picture on the cover of a city he doesn't recognise.

'We made plans and then the world changed and perhaps we didn't see it coming so maybe we need to sort our plans out.”

But Adele says the city strategy still stacks up.

'The private sector has not disappeared from the city centre, they are investing here,” says Adele. 'I think this point came out in the discussion about Durham Street.”

Durham Street is the proposed site for the city's tertiary development, and where construction is underway on the new Trustpower building.

Committee members agreed to discuss the strategy further in the Ten Year Plan process.

The Central City Strategy has been around since 2007, the year before the global financial crisis stopped the housing industry in its tracks, and had a severe effect on discretionary retail spending.

The strategy is responsible for the overall look of the central city. Its long term plan is for a low rise developments near the waterfront along The Strand and for high rise buildings on the high ground towards Cameron Road.

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18 comments

CBD - no easy solution

Posted on 12-10-2014 13:26 | By 4AGR8TgaFuture

Impact of eventual tertiary campus on Durham St will hopefully have a +ve impact. Still needs a proper downtown shopping mall with some anchor tenants in my view. Would be good if developers and CBD landlords got together to see if some land swaps can happen to create a new large drawcard site & the Council chip in to sacrifice development fees for the right site/project(s). Has it also been considered having specialty precincts? eg High St fashion in one street, hip in another, food in another, mall in another etc etc.


Re Development

Posted on 12-10-2014 13:59 | By tabatha

Perhaps the ad hoc bodies need to earn some of the money themselves and start talking to all people of Tauranga, no one else is. yes we have plans that we can comment on, but often the way they are presented is like a minefield entering a harbour. John that was a true stand you made, just hope some other Councillors take it on board. Personally i believe we have, I am not sure of number, too many parasitic groups sucking out council funds which are rate payers money. TCC is lucky they are not having a real fighter on their hands like Auckland has, though I suspect she will loose. 4AGR8TgaFuture, like your ideas, hope they can be acted on.


souless city

Posted on 12-10-2014 15:17 | By usandthem

this is the same old story with this city,nothing ever happens despite all the talk.There are other towns and cities much smaller than Tauranga all over the country that have much more going for them than this place,obviously because they have much more proactive councils running them. What Tim Shadbolt and his council have done for Invercargil is one case.Then again he is a proactive mayor,something we are lacking.Taurang is without doubt the most boring city in the country to live in.


Council the case of the problem - not the solution

Posted on 12-10-2014 19:35 | By The Tomahawk Kid

QUOTE: The City Centre is one of the councils biggest investments. . . " Ladies and Gentlemen RIGHT THERE is the root of the issue. Remove Council from their interference in the business Sector. The council should ONLY be involved in cutting red tape and ensuring that private business and entrepreneurs can succeed in delivering things that make the CBD prosperous. It is the Council that are hindering progress - they are to blame. Remove them immediately and stop demanding that council are involved in things they have no right to be involved in. Do NOT discuss this any further - do not waste time, effort and ratepayers money any more. Council are the CAUSE of the problem - it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to be part of the solution (apart from getting out of the way)


Dreamers

Posted on 12-10-2014 20:11 | By Jitter

Priority One are in cloud cuckoo land, always have been and always will be. Not a real practical idea amongst them. They are and always have wasted ratepayer funds. A useless council quango. TCC shut them down and save the millions annually they cost the city.


Only the lonely

Posted on 12-10-2014 22:09 | By tibs

Did only one councillor speak on this? Bravo that he had the temerity to question this strategy. Obviously though the City Council's Strategic Planner is in the Priority One pocket. So has Priority One sat on its hands on this matter since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis?


TCC play monopoly with rates

Posted on 12-10-2014 22:27 | By Murray.Guy

TCC, just keep your nose out of business you have no right, and even less skills to be in! Hotels, wellness Centres, Marine Precincts - all best managed and owned by the private sector with a personal stake in the activity. Focus on those areas that are NOT the role of the private sector. Get the buses OUT of Willow Street, create all weather shade shopper precincts within the CBD and create a one-way road system with accessible and NO 'double dipping on street parking'. Forget your plastic Waka's and sack whoever designed the makeover of the Masonic Park. Under cover direct access from parking buildings to Grey Street and Devonport Rd. The Central City Strategy was undermined by Priority One from Day One, contracted to implement the plan, NOT rewrite it!


@ 4AGR8TgaFuture

Posted on 13-10-2014 02:23 | By YOGI BEAR

Not a bad name, the CBD sadly does not have the same look about it. The tertiary campus will not have a lot of impact as most attendees are students and are poor as. The dreamed of improvements will not appear anytime soon.


Murray

Posted on 13-10-2014 02:25 | By YOGI BEAR

yeah mate go for it. PriortyOne's name about sums it up, they themselves are there number "One" priority and have always been so. Nothing of any use to any part of the city has come out of there and is nothing more than a dark hole that consumes ever more rates money without rhyme or reason.


Blah

Posted on 13-10-2014 07:19 | By peecee09

Blah Blah Blah , Lots of hot air and no action , how predictable and boring.


Standing on things

Posted on 13-10-2014 10:28 | By YOGI BEAR

The rules and red tape seem to be there for some and not others. Parking is a huge problem (for the CDB) that is massively under rated.Simple really though, no parking means no cars, means no people, means no spending cos it went elsewhere, where the parking is free and space is available, nothing else to be added to that really.


Priority One

Posted on 13-10-2014 10:35 | By YOGI BEAR

That summary sounds about right, everything is canned, parked or buried, nothing has finished ...or close to it even.


Murray Guy's right but?

Posted on 13-10-2014 11:36 | By Councillorwatch

Yes, TCC play monopoly with rates, but was it any different in the Council he was part of? I'm thinking again of the money spent purchasing a Speedway business, catering etc. All were being handled by private enterprise. Also let's never forget the cash injection to Baypark.


No different Councillorwatch

Posted on 13-10-2014 12:19 | By Murray.Guy

Essentially there was little difference in previous terms of the City Council BUT there is absolutely NO doubt that the degree of manipulation of processes, the erosion of 'meaningful consultation and democracy' has changed up a gear hugely with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Staff and shadow dwellers taking advantage of a largely new collective of Councillors with the very selective provision of information. Evidence is the exponential increase in secret meetings and reduced public Council meetings. Priority One were originally paid $40,000 extra to fund a part time employee to assist implement the agreed City Plan. TCC staff, as usual, are being selective with facts


Smell the coffee

Posted on 14-10-2014 07:23 | By The author of this comment has been removed.

The CBD plan is dead in the water. Why? Traditionally we were forced to go into town to do the banking, see the lawyer, dentist, accountant and so on. This is now not the case, thanks to the internet age. The visit to town is now not required. We can only plan for the future by looking at the past and that is a continual decline in Central Business Districts (not only this town).Sadly, a fact.


Smelle stuff

Posted on 28-10-2014 13:29 | By YOGI BEAR

Looks like a bit of posturing going on here, TCC looks to be trying to assert itself and make a take over of the WBOP and Smartgrowth and wipe out the IWI inputs also all in one back handed swipe. Wont be long... he truth will be revealed.


City center no one recognises?

Posted on 28-10-2014 13:32 | By YOGI BEAR

Yeah such are the dreams of the officials, yet reality says something else is coming and it looks nothing like the pretty picture.


Andrew says

Posted on 29-10-2014 13:39 | By YOGI BEAR

The best part TCC could do in the CBD is to butt out, stay away, stop thinking, stop interfering and stop trying to be "god" there, the simple rule is "WALK AWAY" now, not in 30 seconds.


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