Tauranga City Council commissioners face Mount Maunganui residents over CBD upgrade

Commissioners Shadrach Rolleston (left), Bill Wasley, Stephen Selwood, and Anne Tolley addressing Mount Maunganui residents. Photo / Talia Parker

Tauranga's proposed civic development has been labelled "rubbish", "a white elephant" and "ugly" by some residents.

Tauranga City Council commissioners met Mount Maunganui residents on Tuesday evening to receive feedback on the proposed development.

The council is consulting on two options.

Option one - the commissioners' preferred option - develops the area with a library, museum, civic whare and upgraded Baycourt, and costs around $300 million.

Option two is a smaller project with the library, a community hub and the civic whare, and would cost around $126m.

At the meeting, a resident asked why there was no option to disagree with both proposals.

Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley responded: "Anyone's free at any time to disagree... everyone has a view, and they're perfectly entitled to that".

One resident asked the commissioners to answer yes or no if there would be a second referendum on the museum issue to gauge the community's views.

Tolley ultimately responded with a definitive no.

Bill Wasley addressing the meetings (with Stephen Selwood and Anne Tolley). Photo / Talia Parker

The same resident said the overall design for the civic precinct looked "like rubbish", and said he could not see the influence of mana whenua in the design.

Another resident was concerned about the ongoing costs of maintaining the museum once it was built.

She worried the ongoing cost could impede the "maintenance of basics" such as footpaths.

Tolley acknowledged civic buildings such as museums were "community facilities that wouldn't pay for themselves" and mentioned the current cost of maintaining Tauranga's historic collections was about $800,000 per year.

She said the council was reviewing the rates remission process to help those who needed help managing the increases.

A resident questioned whether amenities such as the museum would "pump up" the city.

They added: "I see no evidence that any of these things will bring anyone to the central city."

Commission chair Anne Tolley addressing the residents. Photo / Talia Parker

Tolley replied: "The idea of civic buildings isn't necessarily to pump up a city... [but to] try and give confidence to the other city developers to invest in your city... the whole landscape of it that provides multiple opportunities for people to gather, to be entertained."

Another resident was concerned the museum could be a "white elephant".

"We don't really know what this museum involves... we don't need a gross or big museum."

Tolley responded: "That's your opinion, sir, and I respect it... there are lots of other people who think we need to have that taonga out".

One resident said the design was "ugly" and she was "not a bit interested in the civic redevelopment".

"I want to know what we are going to do to make this city better to live in."

Tolley said she understood the resident's concerns and "the quality of life [in Tauranga] had suffered unnecessarily because growth hasn't been managed".

She said the commission was "investing for the future at the same time as we're backfilling for the past".

Another resident was worried the civic precinct would become "a privileged, gated community" for only people who could afford to live near it and called it "a $300m playground for apartment dwellers".

Commissioner Stephen Selwood said the council was working to improve housing affordability by providing more land and infrastructure.

He said the planned rates increase of 13.7 per cent would allow the council to build the infrastructure to enable the city to "grow up" with more affordable apartments.

Residents also raised concerns about the consultation process.

One was worried young people who supported the museum might not have the chance to be heard.

"You get us oldies coming out to tell you what we want... how do you propose getting the views of the young families and the hard-working people who haven't got time to be consulted?"

He said he felt "embarrassed by how little I know about this region", and wanted his grandchildren to have more knowledge.

Tolley said the council was using social media and email submissions and had been "heartened" to see a range of submissions from different ages so far.

After the meeting, Tolley told the Bay of Plenty Times she thought it had gone "really well, with some good questions asked and answered".

"Overall, the meeting was very respectful and was well-managed.

"As with any meeting of this nature, there were a range of views expressed and that's entirely appropriate... it's important that everyone has a chance to speak their minds.''