Tauranga City Councillors are taking an extra week or so to think about the volumes of information absorbed over the last week during the Civic Heart submission hearings.

Councillors were originally scheduled to decide the issue of going ahead with the civic heart proposal at a meeting next Tuesday but this has been cancelled, says Mayor Stuart Crosby.

Architect Ian Thorne wants a tall civic administration building. File Photo.

The electorate is being asked its view on three questions: is there support for developing a new civic administration building on the Willow Street site, and the development of a civic square on Masonic Park.

The public response is also being sought on feasibility studies for future proofing the library, a museum, a new performance venue, and a hotel on Durham Street.

After listening to 57 people expanding on their views this week, councillors will take an extra week or so to digest the information.

'Initially we were to meet on the 9th to consider decisions,” says Stuart. 'We've cancelled or postponed that because of the number of submissions, plus the quality and the variation from what we are proposing, we are going to have to re-schedule that.

'We need more thinking time and more preparation time for the next phase of deliberations.”

He rates the submissions as 'excellent.”

'I've been through many of these processes and what I was encouraged by was the thinking behind many of the submissions,” says Stuart.

Overall there is general support to do something, support for a new administration building to be built. There's also strong support for some of the other facilities, the upgraded library, a possible museum and the performing arts centre. And a variation of themes for the open space as well.

'A lot of the thrust was, ‘Yes, do something. Look at the priorities, funding opportunities, and look at the delivery opportunities, and they are all excellent questions to pose to the council.

'A lot of ‘Yes, but', or yesses with caveats on it. ‘Yes we like it, but.' And that's fine,” says Stuart.

'That's exactly what we wanted from the submissions. I know myself and I know I can talk for the elected members, we have been very happy with the response. The challenge now is what we do to move forward. It will be an interesting debate.”

The council received a total of 574 submissions on the civic heart project.

Stuart says central city retailer Bill Campbell's complaint that a noticeable proportion are form Beca employees is not a factor in the decision making process.

'It was interesting this time on our submission form we did have a different line, if you were part of an organisation,” says Stuart. 'Some filled that out and yes, there were a number from our neighbours Beca engineering, but for myself and the elected members' point of view that's irrelevant – and they were done on an individual basis by the way.

'So whether it's one individual from anywhere or an organisation, we will put the same weight on an individual as an organisation.

'It's the content that's important not where it comes from or who says it. It's the message in the submission that's the most important thing. No different to the collective of architects. Fantastic that they put a lot of work into their submission.

'It's not a numbers game. It's the massages in the submissions that really count.”