Four issues become immediately apparent from the column, Cowley's Confab, written by Tauranga City councillor Matt Cowley, (The Weekend Sun, February 20).

First, we are told Tauranga City Council is focussed on growth, the budget, and its effectiveness as a business. Surely, council's responsibility to community should feature in this list.

Second, Matt explains TCC policy is that growth pays for growth. He immediately reports some additional costs of growth that are not paid for by growth, citing the additional rating costs that growth brings - about 2.5 per cent in 2015.

He might also have mentioned debt servicing costs of unrealistic growth projections, a legacy issue. Third, doing business better appears to mean reconfiguring TCC to reduce its costs, personnel, and therefore its services. Interacting with council online seems unlikely to produce better services, although it might reduce a few costs. Finally, Matt portrays a notable absence of interest in environmental protection.

That environment includes quality of urban design and sustainable use of natural resources, both responsibilities of TCC and should be high priorities. Please Matt, streamlining business-as-usual is not enough.

Dr Ian G. McLean, Tauranga City.


Matt Cowley replies: The issues in last week's column were: successfully managing growth; addressing legacy issues; and doing business better.

If council can successfully manage a growing city, it implies communities are healthy and engaged. Carefully managing our natural and physical resources plays a big role in achieving this.

For instance, the Southern Pipeline is an environmental initiative aimed at avoiding wastewater from overflowing into the harbour during storms.

Ian is correct that growth doesn't entirely pay for growth as Parliament has made it impossible for councils to recover all the costs. Previous councils agreed to transfer $30 million of Tauranga's growth-related infrastructure to ratepayer debt because they didn't recover all of the costs through development contributions. Council can do business better by joining the 21st Century. Technology will enable inspectors to approve building consents during on-site inspections.

But technology is not just about saving time and money. As 56 per cent of NZ's population shops online, it's crucial council uses technology to connect with residents in faster and more personalised ways than traditional means – such as classified notices in newspapers. I look forward to the ever-evolving community debate on what determines whether we are successfully managing a growing city.