Under The Council Table

Tauranga City Council News

The Marine Precinct Has Been Sold

And just like that it’s gone.

Council has sold the marine precinct to an unknown buyer for an unknown price (BOP Times). No warning, no discussion, no consultation. Just now you have it, and poof, suddenly just like that, it’s gone. And they can’t tell you the details because if they did they might look dodgy.

Is this another back room deal? Is this a fire sale to patch up a hole in the budget? The operating budget deficit for 2023-24 was forecast at $83.4 million. Small change if you are a commissioner. We should not be selling assets or going into debt to pay for operating costs. Very very bad financial management.

The marine precinct is a strategic asset. The commissioners should have been very cautious about selling the marine precinct. They definitely should have discussed this first. I am sure that there would have been a lot of opposition. Perhaps that is why there was no prior disclosure.

The commissioners are working very hard to restore trust in Tauranga Council NOT. Is it any wonder that Tauranga council has the lowest approval rating of any council in New Zealand ( see Scoop and The Post).


Comments

One response to “The Marine Precinct Has Been Sold”

  1. Erika Harvey Avatar
    Erika Harvey

    Hey Tim!
    Someone just sent this to me. Pretty ridiculous this deal! You’re spot on and now there will be an investigation by the auditor general on this sale (and others). Thank you for highlighting this during your campaign.

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