Zizi Sparks: The more ratepayer groups the better 25 Feb, 2021 08:00 PM 2 minutes to read OPINION This week people living in The Lakes suburb of Tauranga met to discuss whether setting up a ratepayers' group to represent residents was needed and wanted. It's nice to see local ratepayers taking charge of their own representation. There are already several ratepayer groups in the city including Grace Rd and Avenues Neighbourhood Residents' Association, Tauranga Ratepayers Action Network, Te Papa Residents Groups, Greerton Ratepayers Alliance, Mount Maunganui Residents and Ratepayers Association, Papamoa Residents and Ratepayers Association and Matua Residents Association. Adding a Lakes group would bring the list to eight groups representing a population of about 151,300 according to Statistics NZ 2020 projections for Tauranga.