Bay of Plenty Vintage Car Club chairman Jim Smylie. Photo/ Andrew Warner
Bay of Plenty Vintage Car Club chairman Jim Smylie. Photo/ Andrew Warner
Some people who live and work at Cliff Rd are unhappy with the council's decision to build a $55.65 million museum on their street.
Residents and business owners spoken to by the Bay of Plenty Times were worried about the impact of Tauranga City Council's choice, which will go out for public consultation next year.
Their concerns included the loss of valuable green space and much-needed parking, more traffic congestion, and potential impacts on property prices even before the museum was built.
One Cliff Rd resident, who agreed to give his personal views on the condition his name was not used because of other interests in the area, said a group of homeowners planned to stand together and fight the plan.
"Any resident in any street where a huge building is going in that may affect their quality of life - they've got a right to fight it."
He was not against a museum but said the council had a far better option in Willow St - the heart of the city's arts district - and believed their choice to go with Cliff Rd would ultimately cost ratepayers "a hell of a lot of money".
"I do not understand why they would choose the hardest route... and the most expensive option."
An aerial view showing the proposed museum site on Cliff Rd.
Business owners Phillip Holmes and Fiona Paterson - who both have dental practices at the Cliff Road Clinic - had concerns the museum would make the street's already dire parking situation much worse as the city centre continued to grow.
Holmes wrote a letter to Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless urging the council to reconsider its decision and preserve the green space and parking spaces city centre workers needed.
"By developing this site, we lose an opportunity to preserve and potentially enhance an area of green space close to the city."
The loss of green space was the biggest concern of Cliff Rd homeowners Phyllis Johnstone and Ada Taylor.
Taylor, who had lived on the street since 1996, said the environment was her biggest concern and she worried about the additional pollution of more traffic.
Johnstone was in two minds - as a historian who loved living in Tauranga's oldest area, she could see how the choice made sense but said it was a shame to put a museum on such a beautiful piece of land.
Councillor Larry Baldock respected the residents' concerns but said they had to understand the council had spent most of the year examining many options for the museum.
"We felt Cliff Rd was the best location for the museum," Baldock said. "This is the best spot in the city, it is not the place where we should have a carpark. The carpark was always meant to be temporary."
Baldock said residents' concerns would be heard during the planning process.
The proposed Cliff Rd site. File photo
A museum for Tauranga: council's decision
- $55.65m museum development at Cliff Rd - Ratepayer contribution capped at $20.65m - Funding included in the draft Long-Term Plan 2018-28 - Public consultation to begin in first quarter of 2018 - Council to review decision + public views when it finalises the plan mid-2018
Leaders of the Bay of Plenty Vintage Car Club say the council's decision to build a museum on the site of their clubhouse has left them in limbo.
Acting chairman Jim Smylie said the almost 60-year-old club's lease for the Cliff Rd land expired earlier this month and they were on a month-to-month contract with a six-month notification period to vacate. They had owned the building - the former bowling club - for 11 years.
The club's 450 members, many of them elderly, were worried about the future, he said.
He wanted dialogue with the council and some assurance the club would be looked after if it had to move.
He said the club had not been properly consulted in the lead-up to the decision and complained that his request to address the council at the meeting where the museum decision was to be made was turned down by the mayor, he said.
Mayor Greg Brownless said Smylie asked too late and the public forum time was already allotted. With a huge agenda for the meeting, he could not afford to add more speakers.
The club would have a chance to have their say through the Long-Term Plan process with everyone else.
He said the club had signed the lease terms and the council would fulfil its obligations under the contract.
He could not offer more surety than that, but said he would be happy for council staff to work with the club to help them find another location should they need to move to make way for a museum.
Brownless said the council would seek public consultation on the decision to build a $55.65m museum on Cliff Rd and residents would be able to have their say.
"There may be hundreds of submissions against it, I imagine we will hear lots of opinions from both sides. We will just have to see what happens and hope that we make a decision that pleases a majority of people."
