Tauranga City Council audit finance risk and management committee (AFRAM) has reverted to secret squirrel-type behaviour regarding a procurement audit undertaken by KPMG and IT Matters. So much for transparency, openness and accountability. I am a vehement critic of council's ‘Think Big' ticket items and at the council chambers entrance there is a large wall plan detailing ‘proposed' redevelopment of the TCC site showing a new administration building, library, performing arts centre, museum, and a convention centre – in a nutshell everything but the kitchen sink.

Little wonder Cr Steve Morris blithely talks of spending a whopping $360 million this year, ostensibly on infrastructure, roads, water, sewage and stormwater, plus Mount and Papamoa Surf Clubs and hockey turf projects etc. What does the rest cost then?

The Mount i-Site debacle was back on the agenda this week with a motion by Cr Baldock to ramp the price back up to $4.026 million, three weeks after council voted it down to $2.5 million. Out of sync squanderers and spendthrifts best describes this bunch, intent on satisfying elitist ‘nice to have' whims and indulgences to the detriment of typical ratepayers, 90 per cent of whom will not benefit one iota from massive spend-ups.

In 2012 Raglan built a sensible, modern 500m2 museum/i-Site for around $1.4 million – so just ask yourself what gives in Tauranga City?

R Paterson, Matapihi.