Andrew von Dadelszen Former Regional Councillor

The Rugby World Cup is proving to be a stunning opportunity to showcase our country and our regions. New Zealanders and tourists alike are just buzzing – everywhere, that is, except in Tauranga.

It is a total disgrace that New Zealand's fifth largest city and what should be the country's tourist mecca, has not embraced this World Cup. There is just no evidence that our city is engaged and we are all the losers from this. This is a disgrace and an embarrassment that will hang over this city for years to come. The blame must land squarely on all Tauranga City Councillors, who were so small minded and penny-pinching that they wouldn't fund the promotion of this city. It is no good asking councillors to wake up – because they are comatose and have no strategic thinking in their armoury.

Tauranga has plenty of inspirational people who work tirelessly to put our city on the map and in this I commend Andrew Coker and Priority One. You don't have to agree with all of their ideas, but at least they are thinking laterally and not out of self-interest.
It is time for the mayor to step up and show real leadership. It hasn't been easy for him, with a dysfunctional council last triennium – and not much better today – but if we are to move ahead we need visionaries leading us.

We have the opportunity to have a genuine ‘bricks and mortar' university in our beautiful city and it just needs a courageous leader to get it over the goal posts. What better environmentally-friendly business would a marine science-based university be for our whole region. Dunedin, now with a smaller population than Tauranga, has just built a magnificent roofed stadium at a cost of $200m and look at the instant spin off from that for them. Yet Tauranga councillors didn't have the guts to make sure they built an events centre that would cater for international tests. They built Baywave without future-proofing it by including an Olympic sized pool; and they got conned into Clarkson's Baypark stadium, that has now proven that it just won't cut the mustard as a test match rugby venue.

Think laterally councillors and get out of your caves – your residents and ratepayers need vision. Sure there will always be the nay-sayers, but you have to be bigger than to cower to them. Vision is what is needed, not seat warmers.

If you have a view on these or any other local government issues, I invite you to email me; andrew@vond.co.nz