Complaints were rolling in about the Tauranga City Council's new kerbside rubbish and recycling service, but the council was confident they were a vocal minority and most people would be happy.
Two weeks prior, the council announced it would be rolling out a rates-funded four-bin system to the whole city from July 1, at a first-year cost of $230 per household, plus $60 for an optional garden waste bin.
A variety of Tauranga City Council rubbish bins and recycling bins. Photo / File
October 10
New traffic lights at the intersection of two of Tauranga's busiest highways resulted in complaints, delays and traffic resembling "a dog's dinner" and there were fears it could get worse when the school holidays end.
But authorities say the lights at Te Maunga where State Highways 2 and 29A meet in Mount Maunganui aren't entirely to blame as inconsiderate drivers are also responsible.
Traffic starts to build on SH2 at the Te Maunga intersection, which now has traffic lights instead of roundabouts. Photo / George Novak
October 14
They were married for 66 years and had just celebrated their wedding anniversary.
Kevin and Maureen Gallagher at their 80th birthday party. Kevin and Maureen Gallagher died within 20 minutes of each other this week. Photo / File
October 15
Two Fijian seamen described as "naive" drug mules were jailed for importing millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine by hiding it on a container ship at the Port of Tauranga.
"I'm still in mourning," a National supporter said to Simon Bridges as she drove past in Fergusson Park.
The Tauranga MP won a fifth term in the electorate seat, but it was a rare bright spot in an otherwise grim night for the National Party, which he joined at 16.
Preliminary results had the 44-year-old former Crown prosecutor taking the seat with a margin of 2433 votes over Labour's Jan Tinetti. It was a far cry from the just over 11,000 vote gulf between them three years ago.
Simon Bridges at the Tauranga Golf Club on election night Photo / File
October 20
For the first time in 18 years, the Labour Party cleaned out every Bay of Plenty electorate party vote.
Labour obtained 110,600 votes in the Bay of Plenty, Tauranga, Rotorua, Waiariki, Coromandel, Taupō and East Coast electorates - eclipsing the National Party which gained 40,000 votes fewer.
Labour's Angie Warren-Clarke on election night. Photo / File
October 20
"Unacceptable" errors meant social workers failed to check on a 3-month-old baby when concerns were raised about his welfare, just weeks before the little boy suffered horrific head injuries in a fatal assault.
Richard Royal Arif Te Kakahi Winiata Uddin, known as Baby Royal. Photo / File
October 22
Tauranga retailers and residents caught in the middle of a council overhaul of a village centre said they were feeling let down and forgotten.
Within a month of roadworks beginning, business owners said they had lost as much as 80 per cent of their revenue as traffic ground to a standstill and customers avoided the area. The impact on the community prompted a petition of several hundred signatures calling for the council to remedy the situation.
October 23
Baking superstar Patrick Lam was as surprised as anyone when he found out he had won the inaugural Bakels Legendary Sausage Roll competition.
