Anger grows at green belt sell-off plan

Edgecumbe Rd resident Jennifer Glausiuss flips the pages of a petition to preserve a notable Tauranga green belt. Photo / George Novak

A 1300-signature petition has ramped up pressure on the Tauranga City Council to abandon its plan to sell the picturesque green belt bordering Takitimu Drive.

The threat facing multiple parcels of land at the base of the avenues, from 4th Ave to 8th Ave, has aroused so much opposition that residents intend putting their grievances directly to the council next month.

Petition organiser Jennifer Glausiuss was amazed by the response. "Everybody wanted to sign it. People were thrilled to sign it because it was important to Tauranga. We could have got a thousand more if we wanted."

Members of the action group took less than a month to gather the 1300 signatures which will be used to try to convince the council not to open up the land for housing.

Mrs Glausiuss said residents were determined the council should not sell land that formed a beautiful entrance to the city, with greenery on one side and the estuary on the other.

"The council isn't considering the beauty and aesthetics."

She said it seemed the council was determined to go ahead with the sale.

Mayor Stuart Crosby said the council had decided to consider all the land as one package, rather than start with the land at the bottom of 4th Ave and go through a separate process for the rest. This was so residents would not have to submit twice.

He said the council still had the option of pulling the plug on the process, either in full or in part, but they had not had that conversation because the priority had been the 10-year plan.

If the land went through reserve and open space revocation processes, he did not expect it would happen until 2016-17.

Fifth Ave resident Barry Coghlan picked up on comments made this week by deputy mayor Kelvin Clout that the council wanted to reduce debt but not in a crazy manner. Mr Coughlan believed selling this land to reduce debt was crazy.

He has complained to the Ombudsman after waiting months for a response to questions lodged with the council under the Official Information Act.

Mr Coghlan said his January 29 questions related to agreements made about the future use of the land after it was declared surplus to the requirements for Takitimu Drive.

Because the standard timeframe for a decision from the Ombudsman's office was six to nine months, he initially feared the council was stalling and might not provide the information in time for the 40-day public consultation period. He has since been assured the council would provide the information before consultation began.

Council's communications manager, Aimee Driscoll, said they extended the timeframe for responding because one of his requests required substantial collation going back to 1988.

"It is in respect of this request that Mr Coghlan has complained to the Office of the Ombudsman. We are assisting the office with their investigation."

Takitimu Drive proposed land sales
•Total Land area: Approximately 1 hectare
•Current Value: About $2 million
•Lots of land: Minimum of seven.

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