Civic campus on cards for Tauranga

Garry Poole CEO of the Tauranga City Council. Photo/file

Tauranga City Council's elected members will today consider a report outlining the proposed next steps in deciding the future of a Willow Street civic campus.

Chief executive Garry Poole said a project steering group was established earlier this month to look at options for council accommodation as well as identifying and assessing other opportunities.

"We're not yet in a position where we can define these opportunities, but they may include consideration of public space, public amenities, car parking and so on," Mr Poole said.

The group comprised council staff and elected members and would follow a robust approach to ensure all strategic opportunities were considered, Mr Poole said.

"Whatever our elected members decide will represent a significant investment, so it's important we use a high-quality process in order to get the best possible outcome for our city."

Mr Poole said the wider community would be invited to contribute to the development of ideas for consideration as the project progressed.

"The Long Term Plan process demonstrated that our community wants us to assess our situation from a strategic point of view and carefully consider how this project could shape the future of our city," he said.

"We received 50 submissions on the civic campus buildings, the majority of which requested we look at not just how we might remediate the existing buildings, but also broader opportunities."

The project follows the discovery of stachybotrys (black mould) in parts of the campus in late 2014. Council staff members have since been relocated and the affected areas decontaminated.