Tauranga mayoral race: Doug Owens says council needs renewed perspective

Former Bay of Plenty regional councillor Doug Owens is running for the Tauranga mayoralty.

In July, Tauranga will choose who will be running their city for the first time in five years. A mayor and nine councillors will replace the four-person commission that has been in place since February 2021. To keep people informed ahead of the election on July 20, Local Democracy Reporting asked the 15 mayoral candidates their thoughts on four topics. Before voting opens on June 29, readers will hear from each of the mayoral candidates.

Doug Owens has five children and lives in the Bethlehem ward.

The 69-year-old was on the Auckland Harbour Board from 1986 to 1989 and a Bay of Plenty regional councillor from 2010 to 2016. Owens is the son of the late Sir Bob Owens, who was a mayor of the Tauranga Council and Mount Maunganui Borough Council in the 1970s and 1980s.

Doug Owens’ family interests purchased all of the Bob Owens’ family land holdings at Mount Maunganui including the original Mt Storage business, now known as Triton Pacific Ltd.

Owens is running for mayor and not in a ward.

Tauranga is the least affordable city in New Zealand because of an infrastructure and housing deficit. How would you address this?

Firstly, the question is misleading to say Tauranga is “the least affordable city” because of an infrastructure and housing deficit. Affordability is governed by other factors, including the cost of living (inflation) and the cost of capital (interest rates). There is a housing shortage and rents are high compared to incomes, both of which are national issues. The elephant in the room is the cost of provision, renewal and maintenance of infrastructure before anything can be built. How future funding is to be provided is the burning question. If elected, my council will address this matter head-on and two new committees will be set up: planning, development, audit and risk; and infrastructure works.

What would you do to keep young adults in Tauranga and attract others to the city?

We know that Tauranga is a preferred lifestyle destination for all age groups. Our place attracts people of all ages as, after all, we live in the “Bay of Plenty”. The future in most respects is dictated by the economy and having been in business here since the 1950s, I know what is required. Our council needs to refocus and renew its perspective. With my knowledge, experience and expertise, that is exactly what will happen, if I am elected.

Tauranga will have its first Māori Ward this election. The Government plans to require councils to hold a binding referendum on Māori wards established after March 2021. This means the Te Awanui Māori ward could only be in place for one term. Given the change in Government policy, is it important for Tauranga to keep this ward?

I served on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council for six years and was part of the Māori Committee all of that time. The three [regional council] Māori wards were established by Judge Peter Trapski in 2001 and this structure has been most successful. These wards were set up without a referendum. If the proposed referendum proceeds, these wards will not be affected. My view is that there is a precedent here that contradicts what the present Government is proposing, and as a council we are bound to object. Frankly, I do not see what all the fuss is about as Māori have been our partners since 1840.

Hypothetically, if Tauranga won the lotto and there was no budget, what big ticket item would you want for the city?

The current [Tauranga City Council] Long-term Plan (LTP) recently completed by the commissioners states: “The LTP provides clarity for residents and communities on our direction for the next decade, with a specific focus on the deliverables for the next three years”. The LTP has a wish list of $4.9 billion of development but “with a specific focus on the deliverables for the next three years”. [In my view] the funding of the 10-year plan appears to be in doubt; projected debt is too high and it is not sustainable from rates revenue. My answer to the question is simple: If Tauranga won the lotto then perhaps the city could afford the current LTP. In my view, the LTP requires an immediate review and should be reprioritised.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.