Public consultation and information sessions on the city's pioneering age-city friendly project to make the city a better place for elderly starts today.

As part of the consultation period, which runs to September 13, five library drop-in sessions – in Greerton, Papamoa, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui - are being held this week on the draft strategy.

The public are encouraged to provide feedback on Tauranga's draft age-friendly city strategy.

The plan aims to enable older people to continue living independently and participate in all aspects of the community. It includes goals and actions helping make the city age-friendly.

Last month Tauranga City Council gave the green light to become the first age-friendly city in New Zealand – accepting the draft strategy as part of a global movement to improve cities meeting the needs of an ageing population.

The initiative, based on a World Health Organisation framework, will build on the positive ageing strategy introduced 10 years ago. It comes as projected statistics for 2016 show older residents (officially deemed 65-years and over) will out-number younger people living in the city.

Between 2006 and 2031, the number of older residents living in Tauranga is projected to double – with one in four being over 65-years-old by 2031.

Tauranga City Council project manager Rochelle Friend says the draft strategy identifies actions from a number of agencies across the city to make Tauranga an age-friendly place to live.

Council is working with a wide range of interest groups including the Tauranga Elders' Forum, Age Concern, Bay of Plenty District Health Board, Parafed, Waikato University, Kaumatua Forum, Toi Te Ora and SUPA-NZ.

Seven community workshops were held at the beginning of the year to gather views directly from the community.

The community was also surveyed to assess how well Tauranga measured up against the WHO's eight topic areas: Respect and Social Inclusion; Communication and Information; Civic Participation and Employment; Social Participation; Housing; Transportation; Outdoor Spaces and Buildings; Community Support & Health Services.

'Hearing directly from older people at community workshops and having group discussions on the Age-Friendly City topics helped us to find out what we are doing well and what can be improved. This feedback has become the substance of the draft strategy which is now out for formal public consultation,” says Rochelle.

But one council candidate believes the strategy only tells part of the story and more thought is required for what the city will look like in 10 years to achieve better results.

Tauranga City Council At Large candidate Matt Cowley says the draft strategy is already on the back foot as it does not look at the city's shrinking working age-population, which may struggle to support the services required by the growing number of retirees.

'To support an ageing population, Tauranga will need an abundantly skilled workforce that will run our medical industries, design and build aged-friendly homes and pay for the quality services identified in the strategy,” says Matt.

He also accuses council of rushing to adopt the strategy before elections instead of addressing the wider issues. He says it will be inefficient for council to set a new strategy ahead of the elections if the new council looks to set an all-inclusive vision for the city.

'Council needs to understand what the city will look like at the peak of the retirement boom to achieve the best outcomes for our elderly.”

Full copies of the draft strategy, statement of proposal and submission forms are available at Council's Customer Service Centre, libraries (including mobile library) and online at www.tauranga.govt.nz.

The following drop-in sessions are being held to provide information about the strategy:

• Greerton Library - Monday, 19 August from 1.00 to 5.00pm
• Mount Maunganui Library - Tuesday, 20 August from 1.00 to 5.00pm
• Tauranga Library - Thursday, 22 August from 9.30am to 1.30pm
• Papamoa Library - Friday, 23 August from 9.30am to 1.30pm

Greerton Library - Saturday, 24 August from 10am to 12.00pm