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

This week, the Bay will start to fill up with tourists and holiday makers.

They come back because this is a wonderful place to visit but the critics have already started claiming that no-one in their right mind would want to live here. A recent letter to the editor from a disgruntled ex-resident attacked Tauranga. The writer had a number of issues with the area but all of the complaints were centred around the attitude of the people in the Bay. Auckland is a successful place and most negative comments about Jafas come from elsewhere. The Bay of Plenty is a wonderful area of New Zealand but its negative comments are most often generated by its own residents.

I worked in Tauranga many years ago and then it was seen as a great place to visit but no-one wanted to make a living here. When I came back in 1998 I was greeted with comments on the $10 town. The only people worth knowing live in the Avenues, Bethlehem is out in the country and you wouldn't want to live there. If I hadn't already secured a good job, we probably would have left then and there. I am glad I stayed and probably the main reason I am writing this column is because there are wonderful people in the Bay. It is a great place to live and all I would like to see is some of its people standing up for their area and challenging the large number of vocal disaffected residents in town.

Initially, most of the criticism seems fair. We have allowed this town to be nothing much more than a holiday resort and encouraged it as a retirement destination. So many people arrive for the supposed easier lifestyle of the Bay totally unprepared with anything other than dreams. Anyone moving to a new house or town should expect to have to do their homework but somehow too many people miss this step and rush in for their idea of a Bay of Plenty lifestyle.

In the last census figures Bay of Plenty had a population increase of 10 per cent, well ahead of the national average, but there were 20 per cent newcomers into town in that period. The other 10 per cent were replacements for those who had walked out victim to their failed dreams. Katikati was even worse. A 23.5 per cent increase in population was matched by a 22 per cent replacement figure. With many not lasting the full census period of five years, a reasonable interpretation is that close to 50 per cent of Katikati had been in town less than five years. Remember this was before the Psa problem and the figures now could be worse.

The council plans for growth which never seems to follow their planning. The only true growth comes as newcomers are welcomed and absorbed into local communities and these communities grow. Many of the small communities in the Bay have become isolated and insular. I hope that the new structures in council will help to bring us all together to develop a more coordinated direction for the Bay and give us the confidence to present a more positive image for the Bay. In the meantime, we owe it to our own society, our own families. The Bay of Plenty is growing but how it grows is a lot to do with our attitude. Take time to add up all the great reasons for being in the Bay and be prepared to fight for our patch.