In early 2021 Tauranga’s future was “pretty bleak”. The city’s council had been sacked, the CBD was littered with empty shops, and the Covid pandemic gripped New Zealand’s fifth largest city.

Tauranga City’s four-person commission, led by former National Party MP Anne Tolley, was tasked with turning its fortunes around.

Plans for unrealised projects “tumbled out of the cupboards” when they first arrived, said Tolley.

Nearly four years on, the commission has completed many of those projects, some of which had been in the works for 20 years.

But the team’s tenure divided the city, with many opposed to their appointment.

The four commissioners were handpicked by former Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

Their term started in February 2021, after the previous council was discharged of its duties by Mahuta for poor behaviour, infighting, leaks of confidential information and the inability to set rates at a realistic level.

Making up Tolley’s team were Shadrach Rolleston, a planner with Māori engagement expertise, Bill Wasley, a planner with local government management experience, and Stephen Selwood, the former chief executive of Infrastructure New Zealand.

Ahead of Tauranga’s first election in five years, Local Democracy Reporting sat down with the commissioners to talk of the trials and triumphs of running Tauranga before their term ends next week.

The foursome had never worked together, but they quickly formed a bond based on their joint mission.

So much so they finish each other’s sentences and the joviality between them is palpable.

The $306 million civic precinct Te Manawataki o Te Papa aims to revive the Tauranga's heart. Image / Tauranga City Council

Finding Tauranga’s pulse

In 2021, the only glimmer of hope for the city centre was the $200 million Farmers development, says Tolley.

“There wasn’t a lot else, it was like there were will-o’-the-wisps [impossible goals] tumbling down the main street.”

Rolleston, a Tauranga local, thinks back to that time.

“What was our future? It was pretty bleak." he says.

“[People] can now see what the future holds.”

Part of this future is the $306m civic precinct Te Manawataki o Te Papa, due for completion in 2028. The precinct will house a library, a civic whare for meetings, and the city’s first museum and exhibition centre.

This project alongside upgrades to the waterfront and other public spaces marks a $500m council investment aimed at reviving the city’s heart.

Tolley says their projects created confidence in the CBD so that private investment is now three times that of council’s.

“In five years’ time it [the CBD] will be unrecognisable. The city centre will be humming and people will be proud of their city.”

Private projects include the recently completed Farmers residential and retail development Thirty Eight Elizabeth, the $19m mass timber office at 90 Devonport that the Tauranga City Council will lease, and the $20m Northern Quarter on The Strand.

Anne Tolley said the Mount destination skatepark epitomises what the commission achieved in Tauranga.

A legacy of hope

Despite the council’s huge investment, Te Manawataki o Te Papa isn’t the legacy Tolley wanted to leave.

“I wanted to leave a city that was proud of its heritage, knew where it was going, and was just getting on doing it.

“When we came, we found an organisation [the Tauranga City Council] that was very defensive, very inward-focused. And right from day one, we were determined to ensure that the council was very outward-focused and worked in the community.”

Her favourite example of this is the recently opened $3.6m skatepark in Mount Maunganui.

It was designed by a community panel and skate park designer Rich Landscapes. The council funded 45 per cent of the cost, the rest came from community grants.

Wasley says addressing the deficit in community facilities was the high point of his term.

“Whether they’re parks and reserves, the [Memorial Park] aquatic centre, skateparks, the Marine Parade coastal pathway, that whole suite of activities has been absolutely key, because it’s about providing the people things.”

Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley and Otamataha Trust chairman Puhirake Ihaka after signing the Te Manawataki o Te Papa Trust deed in 2022. Photo / Mead Norton

Nothing lost

Rolleston says his highlight is the range of cultural issues the commission had resolved or started work on.

This includes the co-ownership of the land beneath Te Manawataki o Te Papa between the council and mana whenua.

“When we did the transfer … there was nothing lost … it was the honourable thing to do to resolve those issues.”

The council has also worked with Wairoa Marae on the Pōteriwhi development and set aside land for Whareroa Marae, which is facing coastal inundation and issues with air pollution from the surrounding industrial area.

“There’s a whole suite of these things that the Māori community have raised continually with council over a long period of time to seek a resolution to.”

Selwood, who lives in Rolleston but based himself in Mount Maunganui when needed, says the commission was in a “remarkably privileged position”.

“Our only mission in life was to make decisions in the best long-term interests of the city as a whole, with no political agendas to push other than doing the very best job we could.”

As part of their role, the city’s leaders were tasked with developing two 10-year plans, one in 2021 and 2024.

The 2024/34 long-term plan proposes $4.9 billion in capital investment, including more than $1b in transport infrastructure and a $574m investment in community facilities including a new $122m aquatic centre at Memorial Park and sports facilities.

The plan was opposed by a former mayor, Act list MP Cameron Luxton and ratepayer groups, who believed it should be left for the incoming council to approve.

An aerial of the Maunganui Rd upgrade.

A ‘perfect storm’

All four commissioners agree their biggest challenge was funding.

“Trying to stretch the budget to backfill a couple of decades of underinvestment,” Tolley says. “Particularly around maintenance of roading and, community infrastructure, and then try and get ahead of that growth.”

The funding mechanisms for councils are “really difficult, archaic, process-driven and lengthy”, she says.

Wasley adds it was a “perfect storm” trying to address the deficit and coping with the 3000-4000 people moving to Tauranga on an annual basis.

The commission has used different funding levers, such as public-private partnerships, grants and asset sales. It was also the first council to use the Infrastructure Funding and Financing levy for transport projects and Te Manawataki o Te Papa.

The levy is a government loan that is paid back through a targeted rate over 30 years.

Some of the 400-strong crowd at the Tauranga Domain stadium protest in 2023. Photo / Alisha Evans, SunLive

Popular or not?

The commissioners’ decisions weren’t always popular and they faced opposition from the start.

A portion of the community didn’t want a commission and when its term was extended in 2022 that opposition grew stronger.

A sacked councillor says if the “right people” are elected at this year’s election, he believes the civic precinct project would be reversed.

The commissioners’ recent decision to raise permitted building heights in Mount Maunganui angered residents, while businesses felt they would suffer when waterfront carparks were earmarked for greenspace.

Their now scaled-back plans for a stadium at Tauranga Domain sparked outrage and a protest from those affected.

A roading and sewerage upgrade project – Cameron Rd Stage 1 – faced multiple delays and a budget blowout to $110m. It was also a blow to businesses who struggled to stay afloat with construction at their front doors.

Asked if people’s pushback affected them, the commissioners’ resounding answer was no.

“We were appointed to do a job with clear terms of reference, and get on with it,” says Wasley.

Tolley adds: “We’ve had enormous support from individuals and from groups.”

The chair says people often thanked her for her time and the commission’s work. “But I don’t do social media either.

“[A commission’s] not normal and if people had behaved properly, maybe it wouldn’t have been necessary.

“We’ve understood that people don’t like it, but it was necessary.”

A map of the projects delivered in Tauranga during the commission's term.

What’s best for the city?

On July 20, a mayor and nine councillors will be elected, with each councillor representing their local ward.

Tolley says councillors need to work with everyone at the council table to achieve things for their ward, which means give and take.

“The mantra of any good governance is make sure you can debate it to death, but once you’ve made a decision, you’ve got to stick to it.”

Selwood adds: “The real job is to make decisions in the best interest of the city as a whole.”

Asked if any of the commission were tempted to run in the election, Selwood and Wasley reply “no” with a laugh.

Rolleston says that late last year he was contemplating it, but when the council reconvened this year he decided against it, despite a lot of people encouraging him to run.

Tolley says: “I’ve done my dash.” At 71, it was “now her husband’s time”.

Having started her career in local government, she didn’t expect to finish it there as well.

“It’s been a great privilege; very seldom do you get the opportunity to do what we’ve done her,” says Tolley.

Selwood says: “We’ve been a great team. In terms of our expertise, but also how we get on, that unified direction is a major asset.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed that the new council is similarly aligned.”

Anne Tolley at the final full council meeting of her tenure in June. Photo / Alisha Evans, SunLive

What’s next?

Tolley lives in Ōhope but based herself in Pāpāmoa part time during her tenure.

She has finished her official duties from Europe and is spending time with her London-based daughter.

Selwood is also heading to Britain, to see his Cambridge-based daughter.

Rolleston will continue his consulting work. Wasley will continue to chair the Waikato Future Proof growth management partnership.

The commission’s term officially ends when the election results are finalised in a week’s time.

A snapshot of projects progressed by the commission

• Te Manawataki o Te Papa

• Tauranga waterfront redevelopment

• Council’s administration building, 90 Devonport

• He Puna Manawa – Tauranga’s temporary library

• Gordon Carmichael Reserve upgrades

• Ōmanawa Falls access

• Pāpāmoa shared pathway

• Mount Maunganui skatepark

• Marine Parade coastal path

• Mauao placemaking

• Mount Maunganui’s Pacific Park

• Matua saltmarsh boardwalk

• Totara Street cycleway

• Cameron Rd Stage 1

• Maunganui Rd upgrades

• St May’s School crossing

Planned projects

• Gate Pā Community Centre

• Memorial Park aquatic centre

• Gordon Spratt sports pavilion

• Links Ave football club artificial turf

• Merivale Community Centre

• Cameron Rd Stage 2

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