Bay of Plenty Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which used the brand name Environment Bay of Plenty for a number of years, is the administrative body responsible for overseeing regional land use, environmental management and civil defence in the region. It also oversees local-tier governing councils for each of the territorial authorities. In 1989, Whakatane was selected as the seat for the regional council, as a compromise between the two dominant cities of Tauranga and Rotorua. Public health in New Zealand is broken into regions. The Bay of Plenty and Lakes district health boards have public health provided by Toi Te Ora -
Bay of Plenty become a popular attraction as the number of whales such as blue whales and humpback whales migrating into bay waters began to recover. The Bay of Plenty has 227 km of rail network and 4,460 km of roads. The main rail line in the region is the East Coast Main Trunk Railway, which extends from Hamilton in the Waikato region to Kawerau via Tauranga, with the Murupara Branch Railway extending the Kawerau terminus to Murupara, and the Mount Maunganui Branch connecting the Mount Maunganui terminus with the East Coast Main Trunk. Rail networks in the region are used exclusively for