MEDIA RELEASE
 

Environment Bay of Plenty welcomes decision

For immediate release: Tuesday 14 April, 2009
A court decision upholding Environment Bay of Plenty’s processes in deciding to relocate its headquarters to Tauranga was welcomed by council chairman John Cronin.

“While there are still many issues to work through, the outcome of the Judicial Review gives staff and the organisation a clear direction for the future,” he said.

“It has been a long wait for staff, who have had to deal with a degree of uncertainty for more than two years, but this decision means the council can now get on with implementing its original plan.”

“Moving our headquarters to Tauranga means the council will be based in the largest population centre in the region and in the centre of the western Bay of Plenty sub-region where there is pressure on us to manage a number of issues better including growth and transport,” Chairman Cronin said.

Timeframes for the move to Tauranga had yet to be decided. While the council had recently purchased a building in central Tauranga, final decisions on the exact location of the new headquarters had not been made.

“It is likely that the new building Regency House will be Environment Bay of Plenty’s new headquarters,” Chairman Cronin said.

It was important the public realised the regional council would continue to deliver its functions in all areas of the region and its commitment to retain about half its current Whakatane staff in this location remained.

“There are specific roles and tasks that are eastern Bay of Plenty focussed and they will be staying in the eastern Bay of Plenty. “

The Judicial Review decision would be discussed at the next council meeting on April 22.

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