Rosie Dawson-Hewes: Vibrant city more than meets the eye

The more I get out and meet our amazing community, the more I realise just how talented and inspiring our locals are. People who live outside Tauranga often assume it's a bland, conservative city -- God's waiting room, all blue-rinse brigade and mobility scooters.

And admittedly, it can seem that way at first glance.

But what those of us who live here know is that once you scratch the surface, the Bay is teeming with all sorts of creative people doing interesting things.

I was talking to the Incubator's co-founder, Simone Anderson, earlier this week and she agreed.

"We do have a label of being such a conservative city, but that was more what's on offer than the people that actually live in it," she says.

I couldn't agree more. The more I get out and meet our amazing community, the more I realise just how talented and inspiring our locals are.

The important part, as a city, is that we use those great, talented locals to our advantage -- tapping into their skills to help create a community that is buzzing with interesting things to see and do.

This is something the Public Art Talks series is working towards.

The talks were organised to draw attention to council's public art policy, which is out for consultation. Public art has the power to transform a city.

Simone says Tauranga has the opportunity now to create change.

"There are potential little pockets of opportunity in the city to develop, I guess the powers-that-be just need to think outside the box on a wider level."

The last talks are this weekend and I highly recommend you get along to at least one. Don't forget to make a submission too, so we can make the changes the city itself needs to match the vibrancy of its incredible people.