Latest news with #DevonportRd
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Tauranga's rates hike approved amid protest
Some of the 60 people that gathered outside the Tauranga City Council building to protest the 9.9 percent rates increase on Thursday morning. Photo: LDR/Supplied Tauranga homeowners will pay an extra $180 to $1124 in rates for 2025 after the council approved its budget. Tauranga City Council adopted the 2025/26 Annual Plan at a meeting on Thursday with a 9.9 percent overall rates increase. About 60 people gathered before the meeting to protest the rates increase. It was the second rally organised by Jan Gyenge. In May, around 250 people marched down Devonport Rd calling for a 0 percent rates increase for 2025. Gyenge said Thursday's rally was to let the councillors know people were still not happy with the 9.9 percent rates increase, given it was nowhere near the 0 percent they called for. Tauranga resident Jan Gyenge spoke in the public forum against the 9.9 percent rates increase. Photo: LDR/Alisha Evans There would be another protest at midday Sunday outside the council building at 90 Devonport Rd, she said. The 9.9 percent increase was down from the 12.5 percent initially proposed. Gyenge and three others spoke in the public forum asking the council to reduce the rates. Gyenge's request to speak at Wednesday's meeting was initially declined because the council said her perspective had been heard before, but it had a last-minute change of heart. She asked the councillors to "stop the wastage". Gyenge talked about the council's spending and chastised it for a planned playground opening event in Bethlehem, with free food and face-painting. "It's a little amount, relatively, but these little amounts add up. This expenditure has to stop." Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale. Photo: LDR/David Hall Mayor Mahé Drysdale said the council took more than $30 million out of its operating budget to get to the 9.9 percent increase. This included cutting 98 staff , with more likely still to come as the council underwent a management review. Drysdale said there was a lot of work to do in Tauranga after "chronic underinvestment" in facilities and infrastructure. "We do understand the tough financial position a number of households find themselves in. This [annual plan] strikes a good balance of keeping the investment in our city for what we need for the future while making it as affordable as possible." Councillor Rick Curach said the council had a big job ahead to look for further savings, but he was confident they could reduce the forecasted rates in the 10-year plan. Rates increases were not in line with people's wage increases, and many in the community found it "increasingly difficult" to afford them, he said. "I look forward to finding more and more savings and not having such a huge cost on our community." Ōtūmoetai ward councillor Glen Crowther. Photo: LDR/David Hall Councillor Glen Crowther said he would support the Annual Plan, but the council had to deliver a lower rates increase next year. It also needed to look at its capital projects and reorganise them to "lock in some affordability", he saidm and figure out what the public could afford and come up with a plan that met those requirements. "We are here to serve the public. We are not here to deliver a plan." Deputy Mayor Jen Scoular said people wanted new playgrounds, sports fields and facilities, but the council needed to understand how to get more value from its "significant expenditure". Deputy mayor Jen Scoular. Photo: LDR/David Hall Drysdale said they were approving a budget by adopting the Annual Plan but that did not mean they needed to spend it all. "We want to find every saving that we can, and I think there's big opportunities to continue to save money." The council could deliver the same assets for significantly less money if it looked at its processes and did things differently, he said. "This is setting a budget\ - now the real hard work starts as we try to deliver under that budget." Residential rates rises by property capital value in the Annual Plan 2025/26: - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
08-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Inside the new office building Tauranga City Council is paying $91.9m to lease
The new Tauranga City Council offices at 90 Devonport Rd are ready for staff. Photo: Tauranga City Council Tauranga City Council's chief executive has defended the $91.9 million, 15-year cost to lease its new building, saying this enables the council to adapt to a changing workforce. The council's 1000 or so administration staff have started moving into the eight-storey eco-building at 90 Devonport Rd in Tauranga's CBD. It is the first time the staff would be under the same roof since 2014, when black mould was discovered in the now-demolished Willow St civic administration building . The lease has an annual rent of $6,129,511 plus $313,352 for 65 carparks. The council is leasing the building from Willis Bond, having sold the property developers the land in 2021 for $8.5 million. Council chief executive Marty Grenfell said he was looking forward to having all the staff together and the collective culture it would bring. He was asked if the council had considered owning and constructing the building itself at potentially a lower cost than the lease. Grenfell said: "Owning and managing a building of this nature is not necessarily our [the council's] core business." The lease of 15 years, plus three five-year extensions, would enable the council to cater to the needs of staff in 20 to 30 years' time, he said. "Over that time, it's likely that the needs of office space changes. Otherwise, we're stuck with bricks and mortar." The new Tauranga City Council offices at 90 Devonport Rd are ready for staff. Photo: David Hall Grenfell said the fit-out cost of $33.5m over 30 years for the building was a "very modest spend and complete value for money". The council had calculated the cost of staff time walking between the old leased staff buildings at $1m a year, Grenfell said. "Arguably, over the period of time, the fit-out cost would be paid for by productivity." Local Democracy Reporting toured the building ahead of staff moving in. The full glass façade is softened as you step inside, with huge pine structural beams bringing nature indoors. The $45m building is the country's largest mass timber office, with more than 2000 tonnes of New Zealand timber. Built by LT McGuinness, it has a 6 Green Star Design rating and features rainwater harvesting, electric vehicle charging and facilities that encourage active commuting. LT McGuinness project director Craig Body said not damaging the timber elements during construction was challenging at times. "This was a finished product right from day one, so everybody had to treat it like a piece of skirting or a piece of scotia [moulding]." LT McGuinness project director Craig Body. Photo: Tauranga City Council Body said the use of timber cut down noise - screws in wood rather than drilling into concrete. Prefabricated timber sped up construction and six people put in the structural elements, he said. Steel frames seismically connected the timber structure to the ground, making it a hybrid building, Body said. The first floor has council meeting chambers and a councillors' lounge. A cafe would lease ground floor space and be open to the public, with outdoor dining. The mayor's office on the top floor of 90 Devonport. Photo: Tauranga City Council Warren and Mahoney principal architect Asha Page designed the $33.5m interior fit-out, which included meeting rooms, offices, flooring finishes, electrical, digital and IT. She said level two was her favourite floor because it felt like you were in the pōhutukawa tree growing on the harbour side of the building. The tree inspired the interior colour palette, earth tones mirroring the trunk on lower floors, then blue to represent the harbour, green like the leaves, with the top floors red like pōhutukawa in bloom, said Page. The pōhutukawa was also a sacred symbol of the past, present and future for mana whenua, she said. The wooden interior features are broken up with soft furnishings, carpets and greenery. Page said they had reused as much furniture and fittings as possible from the other buildings. An internal wood staircase aimed to encourage connection between people, getting them out of their seats rather than using the elevator, Page said. "Humans will easily walk up or down one or two flights of stairs, so you really start to see the workplace as a whole building, not just as where you sit on one floor, siloed with your team. "It's a tried-and-true method of creating a really vibrant or connected workforce." Warren and Mahoney principal architect Asha Page. Photo: Tauranga City Council Page said staff had been spread across three buildings, so they wanted to maximise the ability for people to come together. It also tied into one of the building's design principles - taura here - binding people so they're stronger together, she said. Between 600 and 700 people would work in the building on any given day. Level five was the "anchor floor" with the kitchen, seating and an events area. The top floor houses the mayor's office, which has views of Mauao and the Kaimai range. The smaller deputy mayor's office next door shared the Mauao view. The mayor's office on the top floor of 90 Devonport. Photo: Tauranga City Council The values used to design the building were developed with mana whenua, Ngāti Tapu and Ngāi Tamarāwaho hapu, said council te pou ahurea cultural adviser Josh Te Kani. Te Papa houkura and Te Papa manawa whenua, referencing the fertile land and springs of the Te Papa peninsula, were about keeping the environment healthy. The other two were Te Papa o ngā waka, meaning people could find safe anchorage, and Te Papa kāinga o te iwi - the home of the people. "It's not just creating a building but creating a living environment where those values can be living alongside of us and grow with us." Council staff are to be fully moved into the building by Monday next week. The first council meeting is to be held in the new chambers on Tuesday. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
