I strongly support a full Tertiary facility being built in Tauranga to accommodate the educational needs of many local Bay of Plenty students. There is no quarrel with TCC (ratepayers) through the Council providing the existing carpark land at Durham Street for a Bay of Plenty University Campus facility.
Undeniably we need a University Building that will fully cover this smallish site in Tauranga CBD which should also be built to a maximum height with several levels of basement carparking. The main issues will be traffic and parking and they must be properly addressed at the outset.
As it appears total initial funding will come via TECT ($15m) and Bay of Plenty Regional Council Infrastructure Fund ($15m), then it is critical this University facility must be operated and owned by local Tauranga/Bay of Plenty interests, not by Waikato University with some non-descript iwi input. After all, it is Bay of Plenty funding being used and any University should be controlled by us. Proposed courses need to relate to the real world with a commercial/practical bias and providing internationally recognised qualifications otherwise there will be long term adverse effects.

R Paterson, Matapihi.