Local Focus: Life coach running for Council

She's a life coach, JP, marriage celebrant and community activist. Now, Mount Maunganui's Dawn Kiddie wants to add city councillor to her job titles.

Kiddie is well known in the Tauranga community for leading the movement opposing the Mount Maunganui green space, and then forming the new Mount Maunganui Ratepayers Association.

In her video interview with Local Focus, she talks about the car crash that turned her life around and made her who she is today.

"I was told I'd never walk again, I'd never be able to have children, and so forth. So I was on a mission from the age of 23 onwards to prove the doctors wrong, I suppose."

The mother of three also explains why she has taken the next step, running for council.

"There's been a massive breakdown in communication," Kiddie said.

"My colleague Andrew Hollis and I, we had a look at what had gone wrong in this space here. And decided let's hear the opinions of the community, the Mount Maunganui and Pāpāmoa community, what had they wanted?

"We heard there had been a survey done, and 83 per cent of people didn't want this to be changed from a carpark. It was promised to be a green space when it was changed, and this is what we ended up with."

Kiddie's pushing for better communication from Tauranga City Council and more collaborative partnerships.

"There are not enough channels that are being utilised. It's all very bitsy, what people are saying."

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