Heart of Tauranga group named

Graeme Horsley has been named as chairman of a new Heart of the City Programme technical advisory group, charged with guiding the transformation of Tauranga's CBD. Photo/file

A group charged with guiding the transformation of Tauranga's central city has been appointed.

The nine members of the Heart of the City Programme technical advisory group (TAG) was named by Tauranga City Council this morning.

They are Graeme Horsley (chairman), Buddy Mikaere, David Hermann, Joanna (Jo) West, John Duffy, Dr Les Matthews, Rachel Pinn, Rebecca Ryder and Richard Harris.

The group will consider the design aspects of publicly delivered projects in the city centre, and will provide recommendations to the City Transformation Committee and the council on the way forward. Some examples of projects include new streetscape, open space and waterfront projects, the civic administration building, and business cases for the city library, museum and performance venue.

City Transformation Committee chairman Larry Baldock, who was on the interview panel, said he was impressed by the calibre of applicants and their passion to see the transformation of the heart of the city.

"The final appointments reflect the purpose of TAG, the mix of skills, expertise, experience and attributes sought in the Terms of Reference and the panel's assessment of individual's capability and capacity to make objective and valuable contributions to the future of the Heart of the City Programme."

"They are a high performing group of people that will be committed to achieving the purpose of the TAG and our overall objective of creating a more vibrant, safe and successful city centre."

At its meeting on March 7, the committee agreed to appoint nine members as opposed to seven.

"Having nine people on the TAG enables council to receive advice from a comprehensive range of experts with particular strengths in areas relevant to the Heart of the City programme. It also ensures a balance of understanding of content and governance approach that will be applied to TAG processes," Mr Baldock said.

The first meeting for the group will be in April 2017.