Tauranga City Council will lift vaccine pass requirements from its venues and facilities from 6am on Monday, April 4.

After that time, people will no longer need to show a vaccine certificate to enter most of our facilities.

Vaccine pass requirements were introduced in council venues and facilities on December 3, 2021, to help slow the spread of Covid-19.

The Government's recently announced changes to the Covid Protection Framework mean those requirements can be lifted from next Monday.

Tauranga City Council has chosen to remove vaccine pass requirements from 6am, rather than 11.59pm, to allow visitors to the new library, which will be open to the public on April 4 at He Puna Manawa, 21 Devonport Road.

Commission Chair Anne Tolley is welcoming the move, but is urging the community to continue to exercise caution.

'We are pleased that our facilities can once again be accessed by everyone. However, Coviid is still in our community and highly infectious. We must all remain vigilant to keep ourselves, our whānau and others safe.

'Please keep wearing masks, socially distance, maintain good hygiene, and test if you have any symptoms.”

The decision to lift vaccine requirements affects most of our venues and facilities, including:

• the Customer Service Centre and Library at He Puna Manawa, 21 Devonport Road
• all community libraries, including the mobile library
• all Council meetings
• Baycourt Community and Arts Centre
• Mount Beachside Holiday Park
• all council offices and worksites.

Note that vaccine requirements will remain in place at our water treatment plants.

The Tauranga Art Gallery and Bay Venues-managed facilities such as Trustpower Baypark, Baywave and other public pools as well as recreation and community centres will lift vaccine mandates from 11.59pm on Monday, April 4.

For more information on Bay Venues facilities visit www.bayvenues.co.nz/covid-19.

Events in public open spaces will be managed by the organisers of the events, under the Covid-19 Protection Framework event guidelines.

Council will continue to offer alternative online channels to deliver services remotely.

Council meetings will continue to be live-streamed, and people who wish to speak at public meetings will still be able to arrange to attend the meeting by audio-visual link.

For further information on services affected by Covid please see our website.