Tauranga City Council mayor Tenby Powell has resigned. Photo / File
Tauranga City Council mayor Tenby Powell has resigned. Photo / File
The Bay of Plenty Times is looking back at the stories of 2020. This is what made headlines in November.
November 2
Then Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell was diagnosed with prostate cancer and announced he would be taking medical leave to receive treatment and recover away from what, in hisview, was the "toxicity" of the council.
A jury found Maketū father Aaron George Izett guilty of murdering his 2-year-old daughter Nevaeh Ager and two other assault charges.
Izett, 38, had been on trial in the High Court at Rotorua for murder after Nevaeh Jahkaya Whatukura Ager's body was found by police on the tidal flats at Little Waihi on March 21 last year.
November 5
Pāpāmoa's population was predicted to increase by more than 11,000 by 2028 - and Bay business leaders said the booming seaside suburb was in the midst of an "evolution".
However, there were concerns about whether the suburb's infrastructure will keep up with the rapid growth and whether a planned interchange to connect Pāpāmoa East to the Tauranga Eastern Link would be built in time to address increasing traffic congestion.
Concerns have been raised about infrastructure in Pāpāmoa. Photo / File
November 11
New plans that could reshape Mount Maunganui's most popular streets were revealed.
Tauranga City Council is today unveiling proposed redesign options for the streets in and around the heart of Mount Maunganui.
November 12
A frustrated Pāpāmoa principal slammed the Ministry of Education over slow progress in fixing the school's administration block, where toxic black mould had been found.
Tahatai Coast School principal Matt Skilton pictured in February 2019 when staff were evacuated from their admin block. Photo / George Novak
November 14
Tauranga City Council needs to spend $4.3 billion on infrastructure over the next 10 years according to new estimates - and it doesn't know how it will pay for half of that.
Meth is "peddling misery" in the Bay of Plenty as wastewater testing reveals nearly 1kg - or up to 24,000 hits - of the Class A drug is used in the region each week.
Tauranga City Council mayor Tenby Powell resigned after the council voted to bring in a Crown manager after ongoing conflict and dysfunction among elected members.
Powell resigned in a speech to a public meeting and called for commissioners to replace the council - an option Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has since said she is looking at.
Tauranga City Council mayor Tenby Powell has resigned. Photo / File
November 21
Tauranga's once-thriving CBD was dealing with a transition period which left the city centre in what has been described as the worst state it has ever been in.
A lack of parking, constant construction and success of malls and shopping centres in other parts of the city have all been highlighted as contributing factors to its current lacklustre state, leaving minimal foot traffic and dozens of for lease signs scattered throughout.
November 25
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges urged Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta not to take the "dramatic and draconian" step of intervening in the Tauranga City Council.
Long-time Tauranga MP and former National Party leader Bridges wrote to Mahuta asking her not to intervene and calling for caution.