Comment October 2022
We've just listened to some of Monday's Tauranga City Council meeting. It's incredible to see how many decisions are being rushed through council at the moment, leaving behind a trail of unhappy 'stakeholders', including the tennis clubs, athletics trust, and speedway.
This is being driven by TCC's growth agenda. The museum-exhibition centre, the waterfront redevelopment (latest version), the proposed Domain stadium, the reallocation of sports facilities, and various other decisions will each cost tens or hundreds of $millions, plus all the operating costs associated with those new facilities. But there are no proper business cases for any of these projects!
Why are we so concerned?
Firstly, we are a sustainability trust, and the current plans are not financially sustainable. Just do the maths. Relocating speedway to a reasonable replacement facility likely means more than $0.25 billion of capital expenditure just for one facility - which doesn't even seem to be factored in!
Secondly, it's all very nice to plan a big spend-up while the commissioners are here, but what happens once they leave? An austerity programme for the following decade? Who is going to miss out? We suspect lower-profile community initiatives may be starved of funds, while ratepayers fork out interest payments on the massive debt from those 'glamour' projects.
Thirdly, sustainability means listening to the people who live here. It's our (collective) city, not TCC's. The council needs to undertake open-minded community engagement on these things, and then do proper business cases showing all the pros and cons - not rushed decisions and token consultation that could result in legal action against the council (which we will all need to fund). TCC's Otumoetai Spatial Plan is a far better example of the kind of community engagement that is needed.
Lastly (for now), this is all driven by an unsustainable growth agenda to attract more visitors, new businesses, and more people moving here. It'll see $billions being spent on expensive, 'nice to have' growth projects, such as an international exhibition centre, an upgraded waterfront, a bigger rugby stadium, massive urban sprawl, and widening Cameron Rd to handle more vehicles (and produce more carbon emissions).
Meanwhile, Tauranga has a housing affordability crisis, worsening inequality, significant traffic congestion, terrible bus facilities, projected future water shortages, a lack of elder and disability housing, significant air and water pollution, soaring carbon emissions, a need for more community facilities, and various other problems. We think those 'basic essentials' for a sustainable city need to be sorted out before loading the massive cost of TCC's 'nice to have' growth projects onto local residents.
Glen Crowther Sustainable BOP