Bayfair centre manager Steve Ellingford by the new cinema which is opening in 2020. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Bay of Plenty Times is looking back at the stories of 2020. Here's what made headlines in January.
It was announced a 1300-seat, seven-screen cinema would open at Bayfair Shopping Centre this year as part of the city's latest mall expansions.
The brand new United Cinema was planned for autumn 2020 as part of the final stage of the centre's $115 million development.
A video of a violent brawl among Bay Dreams festival-goers circulated on social media.
Three people were arrested for disorder and drug possession at the Mount Maunganui festival on January 2.
Police investigated two deaths, only kilometres and days apart, in the small coastal town of Waihī Beach.
Police would not be drawn on the specifics but confirmed that a 22-year-old man was found dead at a Seaforth Rd property following a reported firearms incident at 10.15pm on January 4.
A month on from the devastating Whakaari-White Island eruption two victims remained unaccounted for.
At the time 17 people had died and 13 people were being cared for at four hospitals across New Zealand - four were still critically ill. The final death toll was 22.
Tauranga's suburbs were analysed in a new report to determine how the property market had performed in 2019.
Property reporter Zoe Hunter found out what the city's most expensive and most affordable suburbs were.
A Te Puke security boss' family were left feeling "shaken up" and "unsafe" after $10,000 worth of treasured family gear and mementoes were stolen in broad daylight.
Tupaea Rolleston, Western Bay of Plenty community ward representative and chief executive of Tarnix Security Ltd, said a group of thieves was spotted driving on to his uncle's property on the No 2 Rd in Te Puke.
The skies above Tauranga's CBD became speckled with the tops of new apartment builds.
About six new apartment builds and more than 200 apartments were either planned or being built in Tauranga's CBD in January.
The apartment builds were on Cameron Rd, Selwyn St, the Farmers site, Cliff Rd and Quest Hotel on Devonport Rd.
Mainstreet organisation Downtown Tauranga's chairman Brian Berry said in his view apartment living in the CBD needed to increase at least 10-fold for Tauranga be a truly dynamic city.
Fire and Emergency NZ spoke out about a false alarm tsunami alert in Bay of Plenty, saying it was a "legacy issue", while praising residents for evacuating.
About 9.30pm on January 19 sirens from Waihī to parts of Tauranga panicked residents who started evacuating thinking it was a tsunami warning.
While they still did not know what caused the false alarm, and whether it was due to technical or human error, Fenz had put "patch" fixes in place until they figured out how to fix it long term,
An international study revealed Tauranga was the fifth most unaffordable place to buy a home in the world.
The 16th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey showed Tauranga was also the worst in New Zealand to buy a home, ahead of Auckland.
The Government announced it was pumping $933 million into roading in the Western Bay of Plenty and the long-awaited Tauranga Northern Link was finally given the green light.
Minister of Transport Phil Twyford announced funding for the four-lane link, plus upgrades on State Highway 2 from Te Puna to Ōmokoroa, which would "improve safety on a dangerous stretch of highway" as well as unlock more housing developments.
Western Bay of Plenty District could have fewer councillors to vote for next election.