Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

You might be thinking ‘What is Tauranga City Council doing?' because you haven't heard much in the media lately.

Well, you're right; we haven't been communicating much lately.

This is partly because our communications team is getting refreshed through the CEO's restructure. But it's mainly because elected members are building our knowledge to have informed debates in public during November on our Long Term Plan.

We've had a lot of private briefings this year to bring new councillors up to speed with the detail behind why we do what we do.

No decisions are made in our briefings. They allow us to have informed debates in future public meetings.

An example is this week's briefing on our new risk management framework. We discussed council's culture to risk, but it will be debated at next month's Finance and Risk Committee.

The briefings also guide staff on the range of options councillors will debate in public so staff don't waste time assessing options that we'd never consider.

We also have confidential meetings when we're entering into legal proceedings. For example, the local alcohol policy was debated in confidence so we can strategise without the other party knowing our position; otherwise there is little point in us arguing our case.

Most of this information becomes publicly available after the legal process is concluded. It's not about hiding stuff from residents; it's about giving us the best chance in the legal process on behalf of the city.

In regards to releasing the cap of off-licenses in our local alcohol policy, please let me know if you want me to explain why I supported it.

In other news this week, I'd like to thank Zespri for amending their plans to expand their building on Council owned-land in response to local submissions.

During the next six months we'll look at the future use of this property.

Last year our staff noticed some Norfolk pine trees on Marine Parade were dying.

After lots of research, staff found this was caused by our spraying of broad-leaf weeds around the roots.

Our policy for using toxic chemicals limits the types of sprays we can use, so staff had to use more quantity to kill the weeds that were building a resistance to the spray.

We're reviewing our use of sprays to ensure we're more practical while respecting the community's concerns.

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.