Luke Kirkness: Why we need to be proactive, not reactive

In order to look after future generations, we need to start looking at ways to improve proactively, not reactively. Photo / Supplied

OPINION

As a new resident, I'm lucky I wasn't here to see the Tauranga City Council implode - but it looks like the fireworks are not over yet.

The council's commissioner chairwoman Anne Tolley this week revealed the city's issues were worse than she thought.

Doesn't that just make your hair stand on end?

Tolley told the Bay of Plenty Times the assessment of the city's situation was "sobering" and that an "enormous effort" was needed to fix the issues.

"We've got to make some hard decisions. These decisions, many of them should have been made 10 years ago but we will make a start."

The commission's second public meeting on Monday was used to discuss issues that needed addressing in the draft Long-term Plan 2021-31.

Several senior staff referred to a consistent lack of investment in key amenities and infrastructure projects and revealed saturated roading networks or deteriorating facilities and housing supply as a result.

Tauranga City Council commissioner Shadrach Rolleston said there had been "so much" underinvestment into the city.

"Now we are playing catch-up. We all have to face up to that," he said.

"I think that is an important thing for everyone to understand; it's time to draw a line in the sand and start to invest now and in the future."

It is not new information that Tauranga is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, growing city in New Zealand - so how did it come to this?

I'm not sure when the issues started in the council or who is responsible - successive Governments should perhaps also take some responsibility.

But to avoid harping on about the past, I'm changing tack.

The population count for Tauranga city according to the 2018 census was more than 136,000 people, with a median age of about 40.

So what can we make of that?

In spite of Tauranga's reputation as a retirement Mecca, this statistic tells us that most people who live here are not seeing out their sunset years, and most of us hopefully have 40-plus years of mileage left.

So why don't we stop being reactionary people and start forward-thinking more?

A 10-year plan is all well and good to get the most pressing issues sorted - not to mention councils have to do one every three years.

But what I am really interested in is the bigger plan: what will Tauranga need in 40, 50, or even 100 years?

We've seen the Urban Form and Transport Initiative's plan, which plotted out where people might live and work and how they might move around in the city in that longer timeframe, but it barely scratched the surface as far as providing solutions to the problems future generations will face.

We need to get the planning for the next 10 years right, for sure - but that can't be the end of it.

If we don't want to be accused of inaction by the people that live here in 40, 50 or 100 years, we need to think about tackling some of their issues today.