Tauranga CBD does not need more parking. The shops have gone and no amount of parking will bring the shoppers back.

We need a complete change of thinking.

The CBD is a perfect place for students, young professionals and retirees to live. There are restaurants, a library, art galleries, a big pool and grass picnic areas (no maintenance).

There is a cinema, banks, some shops, some remaining historic architecture and most of the construction has left. What a carefree way to live! Bring the people and the village will thrive.
How? Create syndicates headed by TECT or altruistic developers made up of Tauranga investors, big or small. Convert upper floors into apartments. Set realistic and affordable prices to buy so that an apartment doesn't cost half a million dollars! Buy to rent models or other staged payments.

TCC need to stop repeating old mistakes and trying to bring back the old. It doesn't work. It won't work again. It's time for a creative new change.

And parking? Well, a centralised off-site parking with a subsidised taxi for CBD residents can fix that.

C Dawson, Brookfield