Tauranga City Council this week considered making a submission to Bay of Plenty Regional Council's proposed Regional Coastal Environment Plan.

Some key areas of interest are tsunami hazard, harbour erosion and inundation hazard, compatibility with land-based controls on recreation and events, and harbour development zone and port zone.

To view the proposed plan and to have your say go to: www.boprc.govt.nz/knowledge-centre/plans/regional-coastal-environment-plan/proposed-regional-coastal-environment-plan/

Submissions close with the regional council at 4pm on August 22.

Reviewing use of toxic agrichemicals

TCC also this week had the option to review its policy on the use of toxic agrichemicals for vegetation control.

Council decided not to review the policy other than reviewing Schedule 1, which is the list of toxic agrichemicals approved for use.

Council will be enhancing its communication, monitoring and reporting framework.

Two of council's key principles of the policy are:

1. Council's preference is to use non-chemical methods of vegetation control whenever practical.
2. Council will proactively seek to reduce the use of toxic agrichemicals on council-maintained land.

TCC resolved to continue to identify opportunities through current operations, to further reduce the use of agrichemicals.

Some residents from the coastal strip at the Mount are concerned about the widespread use of chemicals to kill weeds before replanting.

One of the opportunities to reduce use of agrichemicals would be through volunteers manually removing weeds and looking after a particular area of the sand dunes.