I have lived in Tauranga for over two decades. During that time, I have taken many opportunities to contribute to this amazing community. For 12 years I served as a trustee of TECT and for 11 years I was on the Bay of Plenty DHB rising to Deputy Chair. In 2020 I chaired the Establishment Board of Suzanne Aubert School and in 12 months, including Covid lockdowns, we went from green fields to a completed school with full enrolment. I know how to get things done. Today I am a director of the Royal Foundation of the Blind and I chair the SILC Charitable Trust.

I am a Justice of the Peace and a member of the AA Bay of Plenty Council.

I have two great children, now in their early twenties, and it is the job of this generation to ensure that we leave this place well looked after for the next generation.

I have degrees in Economics, Geography and History and am a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors.

 I am CEO of Stellaris Ltd which helps organisations to create practical strategic plans – ones that don’t sit in a bottom drawer but rather help achieve the vision of the organisation. 

The skill I will bring to the Council table is that of joined-up thinking: Thinking which achieves things and makes things happen rather than endless reports and working groups. Too often elected members have all the fluffy words and high-minded ideology but what gets done?

Above all I stand for common sense and teamwork.

I have spent more than a decade promoting a healthy Tauranga through the DHB. I passionately believe that promoting healthy lifestyles is one big action we can take and where better to be active than in a healthy environment.

For me a healthy environment is not only one which is clean and unpolluted but importantly an environment which welcomes people in: to live, work and play.

A healthy environment helps us stay healthy by having great spaces to walk, swim, fish, ride, and generally enjoy the great outdoors. And that must include people who have less mobility such as older folk and people with disabilities.

A healthy environment means the air is free of pollutants, so we really need to get on top of that problem especially around the Port.

A healthy built environment is safe. Public transport should be safe to use and go to where people want to go. 

A healthy economic environment isn’t weighed down by burdensome regulations that don’t even achieve their stated objectives. We need to think about unintended consequences before lurching into band-aid rules that fix one problem and create another.

Our environment is a complex ecosystem. It includes the natural treasures of this region such as the parks, the rivers and the harbour and also the built environment including our roads, businesses and urban areas.

I have the skills to look across the system. Rather than single-mindedly focussing on just one niche, whether it be the natural environment, or city design or compliance, my strengths include understanding how they inter-relate. You don’t want unintended consequences because your council can’t see connections and side effects. We need to do it right!

I believe in seeking common sense solutions and looking for the unintended consequences.

Current

• AA Bay of Plenty Council Councillor
• Royal Foundation of the Blind Director
• SILC Charitable Trust Chair
• Stellaris Ltd Director

Past

• Bay of Plenty DHB Member / Deputy Chair

Additional Key Responsibilities at the DHB: Chair: Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee, Chair: Community and Public Health Advisory Committee

• Age Concern (Bay of Plenty) Treasurer
• Institute of Directors (Bay of Plenty) Committee Member
• Suzanne Aubert School Establishment Board Chair
• TECT Trustee
• University of Waikato Council Member