Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

Let's consider a scenario where Tauranga City Council chooses to build its office building in vacant greenfield land, such as Papamoa or Tauriko.

For me, it would signal the beginning of the end of Tauranga's Central Business District. It would be hard to justify any more ratepayer investment into our CBD if the council – a blue chip tenant – has turned its back and located elsewhere in the city.

It's likely the city's big businesses and investors would also eventually turn their back on the rundown CBD

If the CBD no longer existed, we would need to rezone business-friendly, commercial areas elsewhere in the city.

The council generally plans the city so people can sleep peacefully at night while allowing businesses to flourish. This is why we try to keep suburban residential areas separate from commercial and industrial areas.

So commercial businesses need to go somewhere if the CBD no longer existed.

Would the suburban communities of Arataki/Bayfair, Papamoa, or Greerton allow medium to high-rise commercial buildings in their centres? I struggle to see local communities allowing this to happen in the future.

The Mount is unlikely to become our new CBD because traffic would be horrendous and the commercial market has shown little interest there. The Mount's slow commercial market is why the council struggled to sell the former cosy club at Blake Park.

Tauranga is becoming a city of many different identities and hubs, which is awesome. But if our suburban centres do not want to be rezoned to allow medium to high-rise commercial buildings, then it's crucial we look after our current CBD.Feel free to email me your thoughts (matt.cowley@tauranga.govt.nz), call/text me on 0276989548, and follow me at www.facebook.com/a.younger.voice.