"We want to get community involvement."
The first meeting of the transport committee on February 13 could also include architect Mark Wassung's vision for Tauranga's public transport network, cycling advocates' vision for the city and the regional council's blueprint for the future of public transport.
Other recently appointed chairs of city council committees have largely endorsed the new direction to appoint external non-voting members.
Gail McIntosh, the finance, risk and monitoring committee chairwoman, would be advocating to only take on outside expertise if the skills were not available in-house. She did not envisage any long-term postings on her committee, with people appointed on an as-required basis.
Ms McIntosh said she did not see the need for fulltime iwi representation on council committees, saying iwi appointments should be on the same as-required skills basis.
Max Mason, chairman of the economic development and investment committee, said appointments would depend on the strategic priorities of the committee.
Once priorities were decided, they would have more of an idea of the people it wanted attached to the committee.
He said there was a tremendous opportunity to tap into the expertise of Tauranga's retired or semi-retired population.
"I am on the lookout for new ideas and ways of operating that have been successful in other areas of the world."
Environment committee deputy chairman Kelvin Clout wanted people with special skills in areas where council staff and councillors may not have the knowledge. It could be as a permanent member or someone brought in on a project basis.
"It's quite new ground for us. We will be feeling our way a little bit."
He anticipated that some of the expertise would work on a pro bono unpaid basis but reimbursed for reasonable expenses.
"They won't be highly paid positions ... ratepayers need have no worries on that."
Larry Baldock, the city transformation committee chairman, said they had to decide whether the input would be from people just advising the committee or if they had longer-term input and sat around the council table.
For instance, should a member of the planned technical advisory group on the Heart of the City project become a permanent member of the committee. Iwi could have project representation depending on which area of the city was being impacted.
"We need to think it through."
Community and culture committee chairman Terry Molloy said the council needed to harness community expertise so that it made the best possible decisions.
It had the potential to save money, with the council yet to decide how much the non-voting members would get paid.
He said the appointment of a fulltime iwi representative had not been discussed at this stage but it was a strong possibility to assist with decision making.
The council's new structure would be reviewed after six months.
