Andrew von Dadelszen Former Regional Councillor

Tauranga's CBD is a disgrace when compared with many other regional centres.

I spent the last three weeks travelling throughout the South Island, and I'm not surprised our tourist visitors have topped three million. The whole country is booming with this tourism influx, which now makes tourism this country's largest export earner – surpassing the dairy sector.

But what shocked me was how bad Tauranga's CBD is, compared to many of South Island's smaller towns. The likes of Queenstown, Wanaka, Franz Josef – and even little old Hokitika on the West Coast – are so much more vibrant than Tauranga. No one expects our council to pay megabucks for this revitalisation, but honestly we have to get our councillors to incentivise and encourage a revitalisation.

We are wasting such a huge opportunity, with close to 90 cruise liners visiting our port annually, and we, as a community, are missing out on multiple millions of tourism dollars. Come on Stuart Crosby, you have said this is your last term as Mayor; so pull your councillors together with affirmative action! Let's stop the talking and get going with totally revitalising our downtown area. Stuart – make sure you really have something to show for your lengthy tenure as our Mayor. Because Tauranga just doesn't cut it when compared to so much of regional New Zealand. You have the developers willing to invest, so instil an encouraging environment. Think about public/private partnerships. Offer rate holidays for development if you have to. It's not rocket science. We have stagnated for far too long. Just do something. We must do better.

If you have a view on these or any other local government issues, I invite you to email me at andrew@vond.co.nz or visit www.vond.co.nz