This Hollywood blockbuster from 2006 is a great way of illustrating our week at council. We have ambitious dreams for our future, but we have daunting barriers to overcome before we move forward.

Just as Will Smith's character Chris lugged around investments from his past; the city is also lugging baggage after decades of rapid population growth. The new council has inherited debt as well as decades of neglected investment in brownfield stormwater infrastructure. Council will adopt the draft annual plan for 2014/15 on Friday for public consultation, which will outline our proposed approach to tackling the city's key issues.

Just as Chris faced setbacks when he least expected it; last week the Mayor challenged central government's housing affordability initiatives that require councils to open up new land. Tauranga doesn't have land supply issues, but government wants us to fund new growth-related infrastructure and expose ratepayers to the risk of picking up the tab.

On Tuesday we agreed to challenge the ineffective tools that government has given to councils to manage legal highs. We will develop a local policy, even though the best that councils can do is to select the areas within their communities that permit the sale of legal highs.

Chris solved a stranger's Rubik's cube, which led to opportunities for him to break free from his rut. Tauranga's opportunity to get out of our rut is to generate wealth in the city to break free from our low wage economy.

On Friday, council will be asked to lift its support of getting a greater university presence in the CBD. Instead of a 30 year $0 lease, council will be asked to gift the Durham Street car parking site (valued at $3.7 million) to the tertiary education partnership, subject to stringent conditions. It's a $67 million project and we'll consult you through the draft annual plan.

On Tuesday we prioritised the start of the public art policy so artists have a clear pathway of how to turn their concepts into reality. We hope this will provide opportunities to build the city's vibrancy.

The closing scene of the movie shows Chris reaching his happiness. On Tuesday we defined what we believe is Tauranga's definition of happiness through the city's vision. It focuses on three themes, but I'll let the Mayor make the big announcement. We're still refining the vision by talking to different community representatives.

Feel free to email me your thoughts (matt.cowley@tauranga.govt.nz), call/text me on 027 6989 548, and follow me at www.facebook.com/a.younger.voice.