Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller is calling the Government to account for a lack of accurate data on Tauranga’s growth that could hold back investment in the city for years to come.
“This week we had the Bay of Plenty DHB appear before Parliament’s Health Select Committee. They made it clear that their service provision is linked to population and that they rely on updated census data to inform their funding” Mr Muller said.
“They were very concerned with the lack of accurate information available to inform their decisions”.
“This is a huge concern for me as I can already see poor data collection holding our city back”.
“The Government has absolutely botched the Census last year, and Tauranga looks likely to pay the price with constrained health funding and infrastructure investment that fails to keep pace with growth”.
“Knowing how many people live here is the first step in knowing how many operations to fund. It’s simple stuff.” Mr Muller added.
“We are already seeing chronic underinvestment under this Government.
“Key infrastructure projects like SH2 have been put on ice, house prices and rent are continuing to rise, and our schools are bursting at the seams”.
“Faceless bureaucrats in Wellington simply don’t understand the rapid growth our city has seen the past few years. They still see our city as a quaint retirement village but that couldn’t be further from the truth”.
“If they had accurate census data they would understand we are growing fast with areas like Papamoa projected to grow to the size of the city of Nelson”.
“This will have real impacts for my community who are already frustrated with the Government to the point that people are signing petitions by their thousands demanding access to a 24-hour medical centre, better roads, and new schools”.
“We also have a need for more ambulance and police resourcing. The Government has pledged this will be a year of delivery – as your local MP I’ll be holding them to account to make sure that includes delivery for the Bay” Mr Muller concluded.
