Tauranga Community Survey

Sustainable Bay of Plenty Trust has partnered with Papamoa Residents & Ratepayers Association (PRRA), Mount Maunganui Ratepayers, Residents & Retailers (MRRR), and a number of other community groups to undertake a survey on some key Tauranga sustainability issues. This came about after Tauranga City Council’s 2024 Long Term Plan (LTP) consultation in November-December 2023 left… Continue reading Tauranga Community Survey

Why IFF is a bad choice for Tauranga

Tauranga City Council is asking Tauranga residents if they prefer the Civic Precinct to be financed by an ‘IFF’ levy (option 1) or rates-funded debt (option 2). Either way, the debt is repaid by ratepayers. However this is a much bigger topic than it may first appear, so we urge you to read this short… Continue reading Why IFF is a bad choice for Tauranga

Managed Degrowth

Guest Post by Dr Mike Joy Economic growth driven by fossil fuels (black growth) has resulted in massive ecological devastation. ‘Green growth’ just replaces fossil fuels with renewable energy and traps us in this spiral of environmental damage. All growth requires more consumption, which requires mining more non-renewable materials and more energy, which is unsustainable.… Continue reading Managed Degrowth

Container Return Scheme needed more than ever

If you’ve read our thoughts about the the government’s recent ‘policy bonfire‘, you’ll see we don’t regard it as very significant to NZ’s climate goals. There are far bigger things to focus on than scrapping a hare-brained scheme to scrap polluting vehicles at a cost of between $81,000 and $126,000 per tonne of CO2 that… Continue reading Container Return Scheme needed more than ever

Three Waters Reforms

It’s been a while since our last blog, and there’s no lack of topical sustainability-related issues to write about. Ranging from the impacts of climate change to the effects of fuel price inflation, NZ and the wider world are facing some big challenges. However one sustainability issue that has struck a chord with many New… Continue reading Three Waters Reforms