OPINION: Last year, when Tauranga officially overtook Dunedin as New Zealand's fifth largest city, I wrote a column saying what a great place it is.

I argued, kind of lamely as it turns out, that Tauranga was better than the southern city because of its sun, sand, surf and booming economy.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Tauranga's taonga is stored in a warehouse in Mt Maunganui somewhere. But look, a beach.

My colleague, Hamish McNeilly, didn't have to try too hard in his counter-column: "Dunedin is no Tauranga; it has heritage, culture and a pulse," he wrote.

Turns out he was right.

READ MORE: Tale of two cities, Tauranga overtakes Dunedin to become country's fifth biggest city

A referendum result this week has left me feeling pretty tepid about my adopted city.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Tauranga's a good place to buy a house. Until you realise it's a cultural desert.

As part of a by-election for a vacant seat on the Tauranga City Council, voters were also asked to say whether they supported the council including a museum in its long-term plan.

Yes, that's right, New Zealand's fifth largest city - scene of some of our country's most historically significant events - doesn't have a museum. Our taonga is instead stored in a warehouse in Mt Maunganui somewhere.

John Robson ran an anti-museum campaign.

It's a disgrace, really.

Last December a council committee voted to contribute $20m towards a $55m facility on a clifftop site in the central city - the remainder to (hopefully) come from the Government and various trusts.

Officials estimated it would cost a ratepayer with a $500,000 property $69 a year, or $1.30 a week, to build and operate the museum.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF A homeless man sleeps rough in Tauranga.

You would think that $20m would be chump change for a city of Tauranga's size - 130,000 population and climbing.

But instead of having the courage to commit to the project for the good of the whole community, the gutless council decided to hold a referendum.

Of course, the inevitable happened. Fired up property owners, who can't stand the thought of their rates going up even by a fraction, voted against the idea.

The preliminary result, released on Tuesday, was about 60-40 against.

TONY WALL/STUFF The Strand in Tauranga. A thriving, but boring economic hub.

Only about 30 per cent of voters turned out, so outrageously, the cultural future of our city may be decided by a small minority of residents.

The referendum is not binding, but already commentators are saying it would be a "brave" council to go against the people's wishes. A final decision will be made in June.

Adding salt to the wounds of culture lovers, the winner of the by-election was John Robson, a non-visionary who's election hoardings included the slogan: "A $55m museum? You're joking!"

When I moved to Tauranga with my family from Auckland six years ago, I knew I was moving to a bit of a cultural wasteland.

But I also knew there were some good people putting in hundreds of hours to turn that around and give our children something to be proud of.

Instead, families will probably have to travel to Hamilton or Auckland or Whakatane to learn about those areas' heritage.

Suddenly Auckland's traffic isn't looking so bad.

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