Your correspondent I Goldsmith, wants his/her children to live in a vibrant progressive city. I too have that dream - as have all the city councillors during the past 20 years.

Throughout all their terms in office they spent rate payers' funds on this vision. Their efforts and our money has bought us to the situation we now find ourselves in.

The present city administration have not explained what they will do differently, except spend more and quicker.

Until they can clearly explain how encouraging more and more people to move to Tauranga will make it better, I remain firmly of the opinion we have to address our problem rather than our wishes.

Altering roads, adding amenities and facilities, building apartments and building houses in backyards is exactly what we have done for years. It compounds the problems. Next year and forever after they will ask us for more and more to achieve increasing overcrowding and decline in living standards.

Maurice O'Reilly, The Avenues