Mayoral candidate Max Mason's challenge over Tauranga City Council's handling of the civic options proposal is being knocked back by the councillors civic heart steering committee's Gail McIntosh and Bev Edlin.

Max, whose mayoral candidacy is supported by the Civic Amenities Group principles Carrus Corp developer Paul Adams, valuation expert and company director Graeme Horsley and Sharp Tudhope Lawyers partner John Gordon, says the Tauranga Civic Options Proposal is a classic case of council failing to listen to the public, and doing what it intended all along.

Max Mason wants the council to come up with a complete plan.

The Civic Amenities Group wants to not only build a new civic centre, it also wants a stadium on The Domain.

Gail McIntosh says Max wants everything planned out, while the council is taking a staged approach to the civic heart proposal so the public can have input at every stage - and so steps are taken as and when the ratepayers can afford them.

The council is first replacing the council's civic administration block before going to the public about a museum or a performing arts center.

Bev Edlin says getting the office block up and running is most important for the city and the council staff.

'He's (Max) right in that we need to get it right for the public. It's just that if we go out and say ‘this is what we think they need', is not the way to go.

'This is what we think now. Let's test it and make sure it's right, so we are most probably taking an extra step there and making sure it is what everybody wants.”

The council has determined what is needed by talking to the community and is for now seeking only to build the staff accommodation and give further consideration to the others; the library, museum, and performance centre, says Bev.

'And therefore we will just make sure we are getting it right so we know what we finally build is what the city really wants. So we are at the early stages of that process. Do we need a museum? Do we need a performing arts centre? Most say ‘It's great, but do we need it? Right today?'

'It's about doing it once and doing it right,” says Bev.

Max says he's read the 169 pages of submissions and says there's a world of difference between what the public want and what the council has delivered.

Submitters provided a whole array of great ideas about how to create a vibrant and appealing city centre but the council proposes a plan which has only ten per cent of what the public asked for, says Max.

He says the public wants a well thought out plan of what their city centre will look like. Instead the council has delivered the office building it wanted all along and thrown in a few feasibility studies of amenities to make it look good.

'If they can plan infrastructure decades ahead why can't we have a vision of the city centre.”

Max wants the public to send the council a clear message to scale back the cost of the council building, include ‘real amenities' to revitalise the city centre, develop an integrated plan of what the city centre will look like in the future - and to get the private sector more involved in the planning and delivery.

The programme business case, the powerpoint presentation and concept drawings on on the city council website.