Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

Tauranga's first cruise ship of the season is the Sea Princess, due on October 4, 2014. The season continues through to May 24, 2015.

Cruise visitors are greeted into Tauranga via the i-Port after disembarking the ship.

Approximately half of the passengers don't go on tours; they either enjoy the Mount or go on the bus to the CBD.

About 10 per cent of cruisers stay on the ship. The remaining 40 per cent go on tours around the Bay of Plenty and to Matamata to see Hobbiton.

Most of those taking tours have pre-booked before they arrive and they jump straight on their bus. But there are a few who make decisions on the day.

Council staff have previously turned a blind eye to the operators queuing up outside the port's gate to pick up tourists or attract business.

But the number of tourists has reached a point where we need to ensure we legalise what they do before the area becomes chaotic and unsafe.

Our decision on Monday means operators are no longer inconsistent with our traffic bylaw, street use and public spaces bylaw, and mobile shops policy.

If it wasn't for these rules, the nearby carparks along The Mall and Salisbury Avenue might be filled with mobile food vendors and souvenir shops.

Operators picking up tourists must have priority outside the gate.

The issue of Tourism BOP charging a fee to recover costs is a separate issue we're following up.

In other news this week, we signed off our Annual Report for 2013/14. Our end of year net-debt was $12 million less than the previous year ($377.5 million in 2012/13, $365.4 million in 2013/14).

This doesn't include the $62.5 million for Route K, which will happen on July 1, 2015.

The previous council's Long Term Plan had our net-debt increasing for 2013/14, not decreasing.

The Community Development Committee continued its tour around the city by meeting at the Welcome Bay Community Centre on Tuesday night.

The hot topic was the future of Owens Park as a result of growing anti-social behaviour. This is thought to be a symptom of much wider problems of isolation since they cannot afford to reach facilities/attractions in the central suburbs.

Similar issues were raised for the neighbouring suburb of Ohauiti.

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.