Catherine Stewart Tauranga City Councillor

Council is seeking your feedback and ideas on resolving issues with our current building in the CBD.

I will consider all submissions and options including building something to house staff outside of the CBD – and I'm open to all ideas including leasing, building afresh or refurbishing and old building or buildings.

One of the consultants at a recent council meeting said he had received an ambitious brief and the consultation document reflects the ambitious options and ideas.

More than $1m was spent on consultants plus a lot of staff time and resources to get to the stage of going out for community consultation; the first time the wider community has been asked for its feedback.

It was disappointing that a majority of elected members did not support looking into what safety precautions could be put in place to allow members of the public to see first-hand the existing council buildings. I've supplied photos I took during an elected member site visit more than one year ago.

Consultation closes 5pm on July 18, 2016. If you wish to be heard when making a submission, please tick the appropriate box on the submission form. There is a choice of day or evening to come and speak to elected members when making your submission.

Council deliberations are set down for August 9, 2016.

Further information is available on the council website.