Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

John Robson eyes city's top job

Bay of Plenty Times
15 Aug, 2016 10:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tauranga City councillor John Robson is eyeing up the position of Tauranga City Council Mayor, in the hopes fourth time is a charm. PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

Tauranga City councillor John Robson is eyeing up the position of Tauranga City Council Mayor, in the hopes fourth time is a charm. PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

Tauranga City councillor John Robson is eyeing up the position of Tauranga City Council Mayor, with the hope that the fourth time is a charm.

The retired management consultant, who spent $112 on his last campaign, wants to get the Tauranga City Council back on track.

"It gets its priorities wrong... Like spending money on a brand refresh, I don't remember any community clamour for a brand refresh," he said.

"And the rates increase didn't need to be there, in my view. The civic heart project is an embarrassment to date. It's poorly led, and it needs real change."

"Overall I would give the council a D, collectively."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said the role of a council was to deliver infrastructure and regulatory systems and to set objectives and assemble resources.

He said he was standing for mayor because, in his view, he was the only one with proper corporate experience.

Despite running for Mayor in the 2007, 2010 and 2013 local body elections, he decided not to do anything "particularly different" from his earlier campaigns, but was confident constituents would vote for him.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think there is increasingly an awareness of the need for change. I think I've slowly developed a wider network of people, my vote this time will be larger than last time."

He would be running for a position as councillor at large again, if he did not seize the role of Mayor.

"I don't need the job, I retired last century, I want a better Tauranga," he said.

"We need to change, we need people with board level experience," he said.

Running on the slogan 'Real Change in TCC - Guaranteed', his goals were to access the budget, create team-work within the councillors, and to create better council engagement within the community.

"The budget needs a comprehensive review. Spend needs to be prioritised in accordance with communities' wishes."

"I want to get the councillors working effectively as a team, get the council listening to the community, and do what we're supposed to do according to the Local Government Act and [have been] failing to do in Tauranga for years."

Mr Robson said he wanted to get the council "successfully managing a growing city", which he thought could be done "once we have a budget, a plan, a team working together, and conversations with the community".

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'God-given right': Family defends largely unconsented homestead on rural land

04 Jul 08:45 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'I'm proud of you': Sister's final message before fatal crash

04 Jul 06:03 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'God-given right': Family defends largely unconsented homestead on rural land

'God-given right': Family defends largely unconsented homestead on rural land

04 Jul 08:45 PM

A family wanted to be left alone to develop their land without council interference.

'I'm proud of you': Sister's final message before fatal crash

'I'm proud of you': Sister's final message before fatal crash

04 Jul 06:03 PM
Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM
Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP