Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

Trees are wonderful things that provide us with oxygen, house our wildlife, and soften the effects of urban concrete jungles.

People generally like trees, as long as they don't negatively affect individual properties or personal health issues.

On Monday, Tauranga City Council finalised the new tree and vegetation management policy for managing vegetation that grows on council-own land.

We received good feedback from submitters asking council to continue to balance the need to support trees in public places, but find ways to assist those living next to them who are obviously negatively affected.

Council manages thousands of trees on council-owned land throughout the city. The revised policy empowers staff with better tools to address your tree-related issues. But we have maintained your right of appeal to present to elected members if you disagree with our staff.

On Monday, council also considered the draft Public Art Policy. We'll ask the public for feedback on the draft policy during February 2015.

The policy sets up a similar process to holding a tender on constructing a road or a building project. It ensures public art on prime locations is available to all artists to submit their ideas.

It also establishes a largely external advisory panel to recommend to council which idea to choose.

I want separate public art funding from this policy, which just sets up a process. Any ratepayer money allocated to public art will be discussed during the draft Long Term Plan process next year.

We held public sessions to help shape the draft policy. They debated whether impromptu art, such as flash mobs or yarn-bombing trees in Greerton, should be required to go through a formal approval process.

While the policy opens up opportunities for all artists to submit their ideas for high profile locations, the policy excludes temporary public art so there are fewer hoops to jump through because it's only temporary.

Public art is about bringing public spaces to life. Few postcards or Facebook profiles include neatly manicured grass or the absence of pot holes in roads.

I believe a public art policy is another step in this council's direction to bring out the best in local communities, especially combined with a greater focus on events, our new community development team, and the creation of our community development fund.

Like I said a few weeks ago, we need to turn many small cogs to change the direction of council.

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.