Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

The re-birth of summer food markets has brought a sense of fun-filled adventures to different parts of our city. It brought the cheeky playfulness of the British sitcom ‘Last of the Summer Wine', where people had fun not acting their age, to Tauranga.

This is the last weekend when you can enjoy a meal in your community's backyard this summer as the Dinner in the Domain at Papamoa finished on Thursday and the Gourmet Night Market at Coronation Park has an encore evening for ‘Earth Hour' this Saturday.

The farmers markets throughout the city will hopefully continue to provide fresh and unique produce from around the region.

These local food initiatives bring out the city's heart and soul. The event managers deserve every last praise they receive as they're showing how people can make things happen.

Council's role has largely been to get out of the way. In the past we've generally provided our property rent free for a few weeks to get markets started.

In Coronation Park, council invested in minor upgrades to supply power boxes, but it's been up to the managers to make the events successful.

Council has also supported a few markets and events to pilot waste reduction initiatives. I'm not sure on the diversion rate for the Christmas in the Park event, but the Gourmet Night Market was an amazing success – on average 97 per cent of waste from each market was diverted from landfill.

Speaking of bringing communities together, this weekend is Neighbours Day.

Streets, cul-de-sacs, and neighbourhoods are encouraged to get to know your neighbours. It could be over a barbecue, game of street cricket, or even a simple door-knocking walk along your street.

There are lots of other events planned around the city. Check out www.neighboursday.org.nz to see if there's an event near you – or you can start your own!

For instance, there's a working bee for the Hardford Ave community at Papamoa; a street working hard to change its reputation.

Running from 9am-11am, there will be fixing and painting fences in the reserve and preparing gardens on the Lynn Grove roundabout for planting for when the weather cools down. Meet at the Papamoa Support Centre if you're interested.

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