Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz

Last week I outlined my dream. Up until then, I had used only documented facts and quotes from various authorities in my column. I reported on the Waihi Beach Commission finding of a lack of communication between council and the community, but went on to provide my opinion and vision for the northern harbour.

Waihi township, Waihi Beach and Katikati have a common history and need a combined vision before any progress can be made in the area. But before I continue, if I am going to indulge in opinions, readers are entitled to know where I am coming from.

I grew up in Hamilton and the Bay was our playground. It wasn't until I was caught up in the design work for the Apata railway tunnel that I had to study the Western Bay of Plenty's economy and transport problems. At the time, a parallel road tunnel was suggested as the planners rightly believed that the Kaimai hill problem would remain after the railway tunnel was built. The committee also believed that the railway from Waihi to Apata should be retained for a Bay tourist rail network. The planners at that time did have a vision. The Bay of Plenty can't have been awake at the time, and they certainly didn't understand the dream. The land was disposed of, and in the words of railway officials of the time, the railway was sold out to big truck interests. That planning was history for me until I came to live in Katikati. I couldn't resist following up the planners' dreams.

The council vision

All of the documented planning these days relies on statistical analysis and probability forecasts. The district's Ten Year Plan does not include any vision or direction. A critic of current council planning describes it as regulatory and punitive, rather than being design driven by any vision. Long term planning has been left to SmartGrowth and stakeholders. A senior councillor told me that I could ignore SmartGrowth as they were hand in glove with Tauranga, and council ignored them anyway. SmartGrowth's 50 year urban projection for the northern Bay is minimal, already out of date, and as my adviser suggested two years ago, has been totally ignored.

The people's vision

The whole Bay has a very high rate of growth with people coming here with their dreams, but it also has one of the highest turnovers of population – as people have to leave with their failed dreams. We are promoting the Bay successfully and council is considering national interests, but it has not been listening to its communities. The council quotes its Comprehensive Development Plans for each community to prove it is listening to the people. They are planning to write the first CDP for Katikati Town in 2016. There are no plans for the wards or the northern sub-region.

Where to now?

The Waihi Beach Commission was very clear on the need for a common vision for Waihi Beach, Katikati and the other communities of the northern Bay. It also supported the combined council and SmartGrowth working together on the Tauranga Harbour Recreation Strategy, and suggested this was a great starting point for a community to participate in planning its future. This approach might even be called democratic. It might be called having a vision or pursuing a dream. Whatever, it is the only positive planning suggestion for the northern harbour in the last 100 years, and this official document is the closest I've seen so far, that lines up with my dream for redeveloping the northern harbour.