Zizi Sparks: Government invests in Bay but what about Tauranga?

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters announcing more funding for Rotorua Museum. Photo / Andrew Warner

COMMENT

Is Tauranga the forgotten cousin when it comes to Government investment in the Bay of Plenty? It certainly seems that way.

On Friday and Saturday the Government spent up large in the region allocating $5 million to Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa's environmental projects in Whakatāne, $2.5m to "speed up" three Whakatāne river projects, a $2.1m loan for the expansion of a blueberry orchard near Te Teko, $2m for a new roof for Rotorua Museum, adding to the $20m already invested, $90,000 towards a new visitor centre as part of the Whakarewarewa/Tokorangi development.

From the Waste Minimisation Fund, there was $660,000 to expand Tauranga's Goodwood Limited.

That's $12.35m invested in the region in just two days. But Tauranga will see just 0.5 per cent of that.

As a Rotorua resident, I'm thrilled the Government is investing in the city, particularly in getting the museum reopened. It's also great to see help for the hard-hit Eastern Bay.

But Tauranga seems to have been forgotten.

Looking at the Government's Provincial Growth Fund track record paints the same picture.

Since the election, there has been $19.9m for an industrial hub in Kawerau, $79.4m for Ōpōtiki Harbour, $14m for improvements to State Highway 5 in Rotorua, $27.4m to redevelop the Rotorua Lakefront and Whakarewarewa Forest and countless other investments both in the millions and hundreds of thousands.

Investment in Tauranga looks, in my view, to be disproportionately low.

Perhaps there is a view it is a wealthy city, a bigger city with a humming port, so it doesn't need as much help, but one of the fastest-growing places in New Zealand is struggling to fund new infrastructure.

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones visited in August to announce a $1m grant to Tauranga City Council for a new visitor information centre - the only significant (over $1m) grant the city has received from the fund so far.

Jones told the crowd there was a "sense in the Government that there was already heaps of endowment in the Tauranga area".

I think he would be hard-pressed to find any steward of city coffers to agree with that view.

The city's growth and transport woes would certainly benefit from Government investment and the council is asking for help.

It was one of many around the country to submit projects for funding consideration post-Covid-19 and pitched 24 projects worth a combined $1 billion. Tauranga was involved in other major regional pitches as well.

Let's hope the Government listens to Tauranga's cry for help.