Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Petition created to fight council's $256m plea

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
29 Mar, 2017 09:22 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A petition has been created in opposition to Tauranga City Council applying for a $245m loan from the Government. Photo/File

A petition has been created in opposition to Tauranga City Council applying for a $245m loan from the Government. Photo/File

A petition has been launched to fight Tauranga City Council's bid for a $256.1 million Government loan to help the region cope with its ballooning population.

The petition was created yesterday and had attracted 53 signatures by 4pm today. The original application asked for $245.6m but this was updated to $256.1m after the council met on Tuesday.

People signing the online petition said they were already paying for water, rubbish collection and toll roads and were concerned the loan would be another financial burden.

The petition organiser said: "We all need to put our foot down and let the council know we don't want more debt, let's get these things when we can afford to!!"

Papamoa pensioner Gerd Matthesius said he signed the petition as he was concerned the loan would result in increased rates he would struggle to pay.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I'm on a fixed income and they are spending money left, right and centre. However, I don't get more money so I'm slowly facing the scenario that I probably can't afford to live here," he said.

"At the moment I'm alright but if they carry on with this, the increases they lumber us with, the time will come where I'll have to move to Tokoroa - which I don't want to do."

Mr Matthesius questioned why existing ratepayers would be forced to pay for future ratepayers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"More costs should be more targeted at those responsible for the growth, rather than us who are already here."

A screengrab of the online petition aimed at fighting Tauranga City Council's bid for funding to help with housing.
A screengrab of the online petition aimed at fighting Tauranga City Council's bid for funding to help with housing.

Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said he was not without sympathy for the petition's supporters. However the "I've paid my way, why should I pay for future growth" attitude did not wash.

"I don't blame them but we've got to think of our children and grandchildren."

Mr Brownless said the council did not have a choice as providing the future housing areas was a Government order.

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Let children cycle on footpaths: NZTA

06 Apr 05:00 PM

"It will cost a lot of money and there's an interest-free loan for 10 years to help. Even though it has fish hooks, that we've identified and are working with, do we completely ignore it and do what the petition asks? I don't think so."

Other supporters of the petition expressed upset at money spent on cycleways and the Tauranga waterfront revamp.

The loan would come from the newly-established Government Housing Infrastructure Fund, which offered up to $1 billion to councils in high-growth areas.

However it was likely it would blow out the council's debt-to-revenue ratio and subsequently hamper projects in the council's Long Term Plan.

The money was expected to help fund four major infrastructure projects consisting of:

• Waiari Water Treatment Plant ($114.6m) - city-wide
• Te Maunga Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade ($55.9m) - city-wide
• Infrastructure for Te Tumu urban growth area ($39.8m) - Eastern Corridor
• Infrastructure for Tauriko West urban growth area ($45.8m) - Western Corridor

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The petition can be viewed on the GoPetition website here.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

03 Jul 08:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Oh hell, yeah': Pensioner moves from leaky caravan to new elder village

03 Jul 07:32 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

03 Jul 08:00 AM

After nearly three weeks of evidence, counsel have begun delivering closing statements.

'Oh hell, yeah': Pensioner moves from leaky caravan to new elder village

'Oh hell, yeah': Pensioner moves from leaky caravan to new elder village

03 Jul 07:32 AM
Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM
'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 09:11 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP