Tauranga has great promise

Tauranga is one of the fastest growing areas in New Zealand. A study by the Motu consulting group and Auckland University released in 2014 showed that Tauranga was the country’s fastest growing town over the last 80 years, with its population increasing by more than 4% per year on average over that time. The 2013 Census showed that Tauranga’s population was 114,789, an increase of 10,908 over the 2006 Census figure.

The area is growing for two main reasons – firstly because of its port and secondly because of its proximity to Auckland. The Tauranga port is very important to the area, and is this country’s largest port in terms of gross export tonnage.

This helps make the city one of New Zealand’s main centres for business, international trade, culture, fashion and horticultural science. It’s also a popular area for retirement.

The climate is, of course, very attractive, so Tauranga is a great place for people. If they can get a start to their career there, generally they don’t want to leave.

For all these reasons, I predict that the city will continue to grow and will continue to lead the growth rate in New Zealand generally. Tauranga is the area and the court precinct that will, over time, experience greater change than Hamilton or Rotorua.

It is the gateway to the Bay of Plenty.

There are many good lawyers in Tauranga too. The city has a Queen’s Counsel in Paul Mabey QC. And from the Waikato University Law School we have a proliferation of local graduates coming through the Waikato Bay of Plenty branch area.

In my view, while there are too many law schools in New Zealand, and it is undermining the profession, we have to acknowledge that our local one is providing the opportunity into law for members of our population who otherwise would not necessarily have been attracted into this area of study. In this way, Waikato University has made an important contribution to the legal community. And by opening courses where tutorials are held in Tauranga, that extends the law school’s influence. These tutorials allow students to study papers at the 100 and 200 level towards a Diploma in Law, and these diploma papers can be credited towards the first and second years of the LLB programme.

From the iwi perspective, you have the canoes of Te Arawa, Tākitimu and Mataatua, and the tribes Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Pūkenga while the Waitaha tribe also has interests.

This land of the kiwifruit and avocado is most certainly a booming area, and an area that holds great promise.