WEEKEND FEATURE: Focus on the future

Matthew Torbit talks to first-time Tauranga City Councillor, Terry Molloy.
Age: 60.
Marital status: Married to Robyn for 40 years.
Family: I have two children and three grandchildren.
Previous lives: I married young and in my early adult years was involved with farming and horticulture. I ran a couple of small contracting companies - an exporting and a property development company.
In my mid years I did several triathlon and iron man competitions for a little bit of fun. I also cycled across Australia a few years ago from Adelaide to Darwin.
I was born in Tauranga - I arrived on April 14, 1944, at the Tauranga Maternity Ward and have pretty much lived here since.
However, for the past 2 years my wife and I have been travelling. Neither Robyn nor I managed to do an OE and it was something we always wanted to do.
We spent 13 months circumnavigating Australia in a mobile bus. We worked for four months on a 500,000ha Queensland cattle station. I travelled around in a 4WD filling up the station's pump station tanks with diesel.
We then went right around Australia and eventually picked grapes in Western Australia and pruned grape vines in South Australia. We spent the past 12 months in the UK.
Currently: At the moment I have a small orchard that takes up a bit of my time. But my focus is to the job of being a councillor. I want to learn as much as I can so I can be an effective contributor. I believe it's a fulltime position. Why did you decide to throw your hat into the Tauranga City Council ring?
Over the past 15 years I have been thinking about it and my involvement with the council over the Greerton shopping complex sharpened my intentions.
I never had a specific aim but was always interested.
I was always keen to put something back into my community.
After what I achieved in Greerton I thought I had better follow through.
What do you think you can bring to the Tauranga City Council? I'll bring the same credentials that I possessed at the Greerton village project. I work very well with people and am a good listener. When I need to make a decision I'll make it and I'm a practical balanced person.
Having spent two years gallivanting around the globe, how will you cope with the mundane, grey-suited mentality often associated with bureaucracy? I'll certainly stick to my guns but I have yet to come across anyone who considers themselves a grey-faced bureaucrat. I think the current council is a organisation that is going to be open-minded and progressive.
How well qualified are you for the job? Do you have specialist qualifications or degrees? I have very few specialist qualifications or degrees but I've had a very interesting, varied and practical life from being a company owner to being chairman of the Greerton Village project.
That experience, as well as living in Tauranga for 60 years, gives me a firm anchor here.
I have a strong interest in local and national history. Tauranga is going to double in size in the next 50 years and how we aim and set it now is critical.
How do you feel about roads, rates and rubbish - what is your vision for Tauranga? Roading is absolutely critical and the issue of sorting the funding is warming to be a hot issue. I hope the council makes the best decisions for Tauranga after a full consultation process.
Of course we need to keep a lid on rates. We have people on fixed incomes who can't cope with continuing rates increases. We need to explore avenues for funding - such as tolls.
I don't see anything wrong with user-pays to alleviate pressure off ratepayers. But time will tell if that is the right option.
Now that you are in the hot-seat, what are the things you want to see changed immediately? My main focus is in the big picture. So long as we get the strategic plan right then everything else will fall into place.
Our job is to look after the strategic picture, things like potholes and sewerage are looked after very well by our staff.
We're here to point the ship in the right direction and make sure it stays on path.
Tauranga is an adolescent city and it's always outgrowing its shoes.
With any growing city there will be issues and room for improvement - transport is one of them - it needs to be addressed and to get it working will need subsidies.
It would also be wonderful to have an art gallery. But with so much going on and demand for ratepayers' money, all these steps need to be taken carefully.
What do you think about some of the more contentious projects cultivated by the previous administration, such as the aquatic centre and proposed art gallery and museum? The aquatic centre is history. I'm totally for the art gallery so long as it is in the right place and we get the timing and funding sorted out. The museum falls into the same bracket.
I don't believe you can give a simple answer on that. Do you think Tauranga's rates are realistic? Tauranga is one of the lowest rated cities in New Zealand, so any increase always needs to be carefully considered.
How can ratepayers be confident that, even with SmartGrowth, the council will get things right? The ratepayers should be as happy as they can possibly be with the current administration.
The councillors will be working for the ratepayers and will be incredibly aware of their needs.
You represent the Te Papa ward. What particular initiatives will you be fighting for on behalf of your constituency? As much as possible I'd like to see the continuation of work on the CBD.
Of course I would like to see work being done in Greerton continue in a quiet way.
The Welcome Bay roundabout is creating major traffic havoc and needs to sorted out and factored into a roading plan.
What future development do you want to see in Greerton Village - where is it heading? Initially we identified that the centre need to be on the eastern side of Cameron Rd as it is far too busy.
We are going to concentrate on that bit of land between Chadwick Grove and Lincoln Terrace. Some of these options will require zoning change.
What are your objectives for the next three years? I want to see the funding for the roading package settled and hopefully get construction of the Chapel St flyovers. I want to see greater protection for the environment and more parks and reserves planned.
Strategic planning is the big one setting the course for the city.