Author: Dr Tim Maltby
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Never Tell People How To Do Things
General George S. Patton. Creative Commons Image. “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” – U.S. Army General George S. Patton I am thinking of you NZ government. There is always a temptation for bad managers to try and micro manage, and…
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Pigie
I have a native wood pigeon in my garden at the moment (pigie). I think pigie is a girl as a second (I assume a male) pigeon turns up every year, but he does not seem to have much luck. I assume that in the pigeon world it is the boys who chase the girls?…
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Waxeyes On A Sugar High
All parents know the effect of too much sugar on small children. Well, waxeyes are no different. Look at them go. Sugar high here we come. My tuis like to muscle in as well. Watch the waxeye get out of the way. There is a definite garden hierarchy amongst the birds. Tuis have amazing long…
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BOP Shellfish Ban
A warning for paralytic shellfish poisoning was put in place on the 13th of August 2025. Paralytic shellfish toxins have been detected in shellfish at levels over the safe limit set by New Zealand Food Safety. The warning extends from Whakatane to Mount Maunganui. Nature loves to recycle everything, including waste. In fact our waste…
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Rates Rally 26th Of June
Jan Gyenge (pronounced Jen Ga) organised a rates rally at 8.00am Thursday 26th of June, outside the Tauranga City Council building. The council was due to meet at 9.30am to vote on the annual plan for 2025-26, which includes a 9.9% rates increase. Most people in Tauranga can not afford a 9.9% rates increase. Around…
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MRRR Meeting May 2025
Mayor Mahe Drysdale spoke at the Mount Maunganui Ratepayers Residents and Retailers (MRRR) meeting on Thursday the 15th of May 2025. The Mayor has bought a house in Papamoa, and the family are moving in at the end of the year. Mayoress Juliette is finishing her teacher training at Waikato University this year. Juliette is…
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Rates Rally May 2025
Local Tauranga resident Jan Gyenge (pronounced Jen Ga), organised a rates rally for concerned Tauranga residents on Sunday 18th of May, 2025. The rally started at 1.00pm at Memorial Park, with a speech by local ACT MP Cameron Luxton. Thanks Cameron for a very good speech. Jan led an orderly march up Devonport road, stopping…
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Annual Plan Submission Tool
I have made up this submission tool for anyone wanting to put in a submission. The submission tool covers both the annual plan, local water done well, and the development contributions policy. Also refer to the council consultation document. Submissions close on Monday the 28th of April. The council submission form is very narrow, and…
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Mount Ratepayers MRRR Thursday 27th of March
Kirsten Murfitt and Erika Harvey spoke about various council shenanigans. The meeting was attended by Councillors Glen Crowther (TCC), Tracy Coxhead (WBOPC), Margaret Murray-Benge (WBOPC), and Stewart Crosby (BOPRC). Kirsten from km law has spent a lot of time investigating various council property transactions. The council has a history of buying property well above market…
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Jordan Williams NZ Taxpayers Union At PRA
Jordan Williams from the New Zealand Taxpayers Union spoke at the Papamoa Residents Association on Monday 10th of March 2025 (NZTU Facebook Page). Jordan spoke about the performance of the coalition government, and what they are doing for local government. Here are some of Jordan’s slides from the latest Curia poll which are referred to…
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Marine Precinct Motion To Strike
I spent the day in court on Tuesday 25th of February, along with 40-50 other people supporting Erika Harvey. The numbers did reduce by the end of the day. Last year, the Commissioners made a secret sale of the Marine Precinct to an unsolicited buyer. There was no public tender. The sale was kept secret…
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Gordon Spratt Shelter
We have a new shelter beside the play park at Gordon Spratt Reserve. Here local resident Barry Scott cuts the ribbon with Papamoa Rotary Club project manager Christa George. Barry initiated the project to provide shade for local moms while their children are playing on the playground. The structure provides shade, and somewhere to sit…
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Treaty Principles Bill Submission
Below is my submission on the Treaty Principles Bill. This is about some very important issues which affect New Zealand’s sovereignty, and the way in which we as a nation go forward. The current path that the country on is “divide and conquer” which does not bode well for the future of our democracy. The…
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Marine Precinct Updates 2024-11-22
A bit more news on the Marine Precinct. The Marine Precinct group lead by Erika Harvey, Mark Ngata and Sean Kelly have had to withdraw their legal action because of the high costs and the risk of damages being awarded. Justice is only available to people with deep pockets. The legal costs would have been…
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Do We Need A Rates Cap?
The council has been very busy. They have approved the next phase of the library building. They are soon going to approve the next phase for the museum, and they are warming up to approve the aquatic center. All wonderful stuff, except for the poor starving ratepayers who are going to have to pay for…
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Don’t Close Otumoetai Pool
The entrance to Otumoetai Pool I have had a recent query about Otumoetai Pool. I read that you are in favour of building facilities in the suburbs. What is your stance on the proposed closing of Otumoetai Pool? I am totally opposed to closing the pool. The Otumoetai pool is exactly the type of facility…
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The Marine Precinct Has Been Sold
And just like that it’s gone. Council has sold the marine precinct to an unknown buyer for an unknown price (BOP Times). No warning, no discussion, no consultation. Just now you have it, and poof, suddenly just like that, it’s gone. And they can’t tell you the details because if they did they might look…
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Our Rates For 2034
The total average residential rates, including water and Regional Council rates by 2034 is estimated at approximately $12,000 per year, or higher. The average Tauranga City Council residential rates are approximately $3500. If we add average Regional Council rates (approx. $600), and average water rates (approx. $600), the total average residential rates for 2024 are…
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Too Many Consultants
More managers means more consultants. So where we have too many managers (seagulls), we also seem to have too many consultants (ducks), all looking for food (rates). In 2022-23 Tauranga City Council spent nearly $56million on consultants (LGOIMA request /2024/q4/150524). Airport 326,538 Animal Services 16,233 Arts & Culture 2,030,759 Asset Divestment and Leveraging 104,424 Asset…
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Too Many Managers
And not enough ratepayers. Tauranga City Council has too many managers (seagulls). For the 2022-23 year there were 1033.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees working for Tauranga City Council (2023 Annual Report). Over the same period there were 190.5 managers (LGOIMA request 2024/q4/90524). This means that there are 843 non managerial staff, with one manager per…