City councillors and staff will be in Red Square at lunchtime today talking about the civic heart project.

From 11am to 1pm the councillors will be seeking community input on creating Tauranga's civic heart in the city centre as part of the civic space options project.

Councillors and staff want to hear your thoughts on the civic heart of Tauranga.

'We are still in that first stage of our community engagement that we started about Christmas time and continued throughout January February and March,” says city council communication advisor Amanda Weatherley.

'We have the scope elements of what elected members wanted us to look at, so we are still in that engagement phase of asking the community what they want.”

Today's lunchtime event is a continuation of the civic heart community engagement events that have been held at Bayfair, The Little Big Markets Mount and Papamoa, Papamoa Plaza, Bethlehem Town Centre, Fraser Cove and in the city centre, as well as presentations to business and community groups.

'We are just wanting to make sure people have the opportunity to share their thoughts before we move into the next stages,” says Amanda.

The community engagement will continue through stages two and three and when it comes time to make the Long Term Plan amendment.

'This is just a, ‘what does a civic heart mean?', and just gauging that feedback, which elected members will consider when we go through the next stages before we get to that LTP amendment.”

So far the councillors have received feedback from more than 2000 people on what experiences they expect to have in a civic heart.

It is part of the civic space options project, which will determine the best options for Council office accommodation and assess opportunities to create a world-class civic heart in the city centre.

It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for the city, says Mayor Stuart Crosby.

'Council is in the unique position of requiring a long-term site for our offices, at the same time as owning the largest central city site,” says Stuart.

'Council's Civic Space Options Project is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the public and private sector to work together to create a world-class civic heart in Tauranga – one of New Zealand's fastest growing cities.

To achieve this, we will bring fresh thinking to planning ahead for the future 10, 20, 30 years to enhance the desirability, vibrancy and economic sustainability for the city and community.

'What we all decide will represent a significant investment in the long-term future of our city, so it's important that we get this right,” says Stuart.

The civic centre conversation arose from community feedback through the Long Term Plan 2015-2025 to the effect that council should look at wider options than fixing the mouldy and leaky council buildings. The Civic Space Options project was formed in June 2015 with Elected Members, Council staff and iwi.

The Civic Space Options Project will determine the best options for Council office accommodation and assess opportunities to create a world-class civic heart on the two-hectare Council-owned Willow street site.