Your view: Letters to the editor, December 1

Options for a new museum in the city. Images/supplied

Virtual museum

The romance of having facilities of every kind for Tauranga is admirable, but Tauranga City Council urgently needs to prioritise projects to avoid putting even more financial pressure on ratepayers. Road repairs, construction, and public safety issues must be completed first.

A new library is a nice idea, but there is no proven urgency, people are still borrowing books.

The museum is another non-urgent project. While it will be of casual interest for locals and visitors, it is unlikely to actually attract tourism. An investment in an online, low-cost museum initiative, using today's stunning technology, could provide an exciting virtual museum.

With online access to all, this would certainly create public interest, and possibly corporate funding, to build the real thing when it becomes more affordable.

This virtual insight would provide an accurate, cost-saving survey to measure public preference, and opinion of their virtual museum content and experience, well before plans are drawn for the permanent museum, and certainly prior to collections and exhibits being paid for.

How about that for saving a heap of money?
Russell Mckenzie Papamoa

Other priorities

Who wants a museum? I raise this question as Tauranga City councillors barge ahead, without asking us, if we are agreeable to paying between $100 and $120 million for a museum.

They say they asked 100 people. We number 100,000 who will have to pay the cost. There are far more pressing needs in this city than a museum with a marae attached.

For instance, the most pressing need is to get rid of the person who thinks by not developing adequate roads in our city we will all ride bikes.

We demand binding referenda on the Issues of: $5m visitor centre, $100m museum, destruction of our library and civic building and the $50m new library. And we demand adequate roads and systems so this city can function efficiently and smoothly.

Councillors, get your heads on and focus on the real needs of Tauranga.
Ken Evans Tauranga

Never cheaper

It is appalling that a city the size of Tauranga does not have a museum.

We need a museum to tell the history of our place in an accessible manner for all. Take courage councillors and build the museum. It will never be cheaper.
Patricia Brooks Pyes Pa