Tauranga real estate salesman runs for council

Two council hopefuls have officially put their names forward since official nominations for this year's local board elections opened just over a week ago.

Alan Davidson. Photo/supplied

Tauranga's first council-only nomination for October's local government elections is 64-year-old real estate agent Alan Davidson.

He joins environmentalist Noel Peterson who has lodged dual nominations for both the mayoralty and a seat on the Tauranga City Council, as reported on Friday.

Mr Davidson has been in the real estate industry for 22 years, prior to which he spent 17 years running hotels for Lion Breweries.

He said his job saw him involved in all kinds of council-related problems that could be sorted out more easily. ''Not enough questions are being asked in the council.''

Mr Davidson said being a councillor needed a lot of people skills.

''I have been dealing with people all the time for the last 40 years and have seen all sorts of different situations that needed to be sorted, particularly in real estate.''

Mr Peterson and Mr Davidson are contesting the four at-large seats on the council.

Mr Peterson, 63, told the Bay of Plenty Times last week that Tauranga needed to be working towards being a carbon neutral city, embracing new technologies and new ways of thinking.