Reading: 232 pages Hours in meetings: 9 hours
Meetings this week included a review workshop on how you are represented. We have to do this every six years and the discussion centerd around how the population is changing. At present Tauranga is represented by 5 councillors, Rotorua by 2, Western Bay of Plenty by 2 and Eastern Bay of Plenty by 2. There are also 3 Maori constituencies. These numbers are based on relative population numbers.
Most of the Regional Council’s work occurs outside the Tauranga city limits, the exceptions being mainly public transport and air quality monitoring. Our bread and butter is fresh water drainage and consenting, pest control other environmental concerns. This is arguably mainly a rural activity.
The recommendation will go to a full Council meeting to keep the status quo.
Smartgrowth met this week and recognised the Government’s commitment in the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS-LT) which approves of SH 29 and SH 2 projects going ahead. The challenge is to make the funding work with the practicalities of delivering.
Apart from that there is lots of monitoring but not a lot of transformation while various parts of the system wait for other parts to do their thing. A bit frustrating.
Councillor Nees who had a bereavement in the family, so I stepped in for her to meet with the Western Bay councillors, alongside Councillors Crosbie and Shirley. We presented our draft long-term plan and discussed issues which particularly affect the Western Bay.