Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale buys home in city but isn't moving in yet
After being elected in July, Drysdale said he would move to Tauranga by the end of last year.
'The plan was to be here this year, but not having a base and finding a home made that challenging.'
Drysdale came under fire in February for not living in the city he was elected to lead, despite his election comments.
He said this week Tauranga's housing shortage and schools that were 'very hard to get into' had made finding a home difficult.
'You've got to be in zone of the schools that you want to go to.'
The city's housing situation was an eye-opener, Drysdale said.
Tauranga was one of the most unaffordable cities in the country to rent or buy a home, he said.
They had hoped for a house in the Avenues area so the children could go to the same schools he did.
Drysdale attended Tauranga Primary, Tauranga Intermediate and Tauranga Boys' College.
They had to pivot and settled on a home in Pāpāmoa, he said.
'Finding the right place was hard, but we're very happy with what we've got.'
Despite buying a property, Drysdale said he would continue to stay with his mum when in Tauranga until the family moved.
'Once we made the decision not to uproot our children until the end of this year, and with the limited amount of time I spend at home when working, we made the decision to rent the house out on a short-term basis until we move in.'
It also meant he could spend more time with his mum, who had some health challenges.
He was in Tauranga from Monday to Friday, and if he had events at the weekend, the family would come to stay.
It was hard being away from the family, but not too dissimilar to when he was rowing and would be overseas for three months. Drysdale retired from rowing in 2021 as a two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion in the single sculls.
'We make it work. They [the children] love it here, being with grandma and the beach so they're really excited about coming over', he said.
'I promised to move here, and we will absolutely fulfil that promise. It's just a year later than we hoped.'
According to his financial interests declaration, Drysdale was already the beneficiary of a trust that owns seven rental properties - two each in Auckland, Hamilton, and Cambridge, and one in Mount Maunganui.
The trust also owned family residences in Cambridge and Mount Maunganui and two commercial properties.
Drysdale, who was a financial adviser between his rowing and local government careers, said he was enjoying being Mayor but it was a 'very challenging position'.
'This is a business managing around $8 billion of assets. With the Annual Plan we're looking at spending and investing over $1b in the next financial year.'
Tauranga had an infrastructure deficit and the council needed to fill that while balancing affordability for ratepayers, he said.
The draft 12% rates rise for 2025/26 has attracted criticism and claims it will be unaffordable for ratepayers. Drysdale has said the council was working to get it down to 10%.
'Some people are struggling and we acknowledge that. On the flip side, there's a lot of people that are very encouraging about what's happening in the city and they want to see more things delivered.
'We're trying to deliver is a city that people want to live in. It's for future generations. We're looking out to 30 years and what do we need in that time.'
He said the city's potential was 'pretty exciting'.
His favourite part of the job was the monthly citizenship ceremonies.
'It's such a fantastic occasion. Seeing the joy of people that have moved from around the world to choose Tauranga as the place they want to be.
'Overall, I'm really enjoying the role and all that comes with it.'
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16-07-2025
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Eastern Bay Mayors Hit Out Against Amalgamation Talks
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Dr Luca also referenced a 2024 economic paper by University of Otago professor Tom Stannard and TDB Advisory's Philip Barry about scale efficiency gains in electricity distribution. The paper looked at both public and private organisations and found that potential gains from scale alone, without considering population density, were very limited. 'The only way that reducing the number of slices in a pie can result in any benefit is if the pie also shrinks,' Dr Luca said. 'I'm actually quite annoyed that (Mr) Drysdale makes the argument that everybody trots out without evidence. The real evidence is there, and he completely ignores it.' He felt Whakatāne district would be the loser in any amalgamation arrangement with the wider Bay of Plenty. 'We represent 16 percent of the population of the Bay of Plenty, and you only have to look at how we fared in receiving funding through the Regional Transport Committee. We only got 1 percent of the budget request allocated to us. 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Bay of Plenty councils: Eastern Bay mayors hit out against amalgamation talks
At a recent Bay of Plenty Mayoral Forum, Drysdale said communities were crying out for things to be delivered more efficiently and effectively. He said there were seven councils represented around the forum table, which meant seven times the overhead. 'We can wait five years and have the Government do it for us or we can be proactive and say, let's look at it.' Drysdale will also be speaking to a remit put to this week's Local Government New Zealand conference by Tauranga City Council for a review of local government arrangements to achieve better balance. The remit was supported by LGNZ's Metro Sector councils. Whakatāne Mayor Victor Luca said he could find no evidence that amalgamation of councils would result in lower rates. He cited two academic studies published in the past three years that pointed against any efficiencies being achieved by amalgamation. A 2022 report called Does Size Matter, from independent Crown organisation the Infrastructure Commission, found little evidence of cost efficiencies from larger local governments. The report looked at whether council size and structure affected road maintenance, building consents and council overhead costs. Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale at a Tauranga City Council meeting. Photo / David Hall 'Our analysis suggests that population size neither decreases nor increases the cost to provide these three services,' the report stated. Luca also referenced a 2024 economic paper by University of Otago professor Tom Stannard and TDB Advisory's Philip Barry about scale efficiency gains in electricity distribution. The paper looked at public and private organisations and found that potential gains from scale alone, without considering population density, were very limited. 'The only way that reducing the number of slices in a pie can result in any benefit is if the pie also shrinks,' Luca said. 'I'm actually quite annoyed that Drysdale makes the argument that everybody trots out without evidence. The real evidence is there, and he completely ignores it.' Ōpōtiki Mayor David Moore, Kawerau Mayor Faylene Tunui and Whakatāne Mayor Victor Luca are in agreement that amalgamation with other Bay of Plenty councils is not in the best interests of the Eastern Bay. Photo / Supplied He felt Whakatāne district would be the loser in any amalgamation arrangement with the wider Bay of Plenty. 'We represent 16% of the population of the Bay of Plenty, and you only have to look at how we fared in receiving funding through the Regional Transport Committee. We only got 1% of the budget request allocated to us.' He felt there were efficiencies that could be made through the councils working more closely together. 'For example, we're all using different enterprise software. That is something that could easily be fixed without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.' Ōpōtiki Mayor David Moore said he felt Drysdale should be talking to his community about how they felt before he started talking about amalgamating councils. Whakatāne would be the loser in a Bay of Plenty council amalgamation, Mayor Victor Luca says. Photo / Andrew Warner 'The first thing you learn in local government is you need to talk to your community first, before we make plans.' Moore was doubtful that amalgamation would create efficiencies, pointing out a number of failures of central government in providing police, education and health services to the region. 'That day [of the mayoral forum] we had a presentation showing we are 1700 doctors short in New Zealand. 'We've got a net increase in police of less than 20.' He also referenced the recent reduction in gynaecological and obstetrics services that sees pregnant women having to be rushed to Tauranga for emergencies, and Ōpōtiki College having issues with black mould in classrooms last year. He said there had been a great deal of work done recently on possible funding solutions for councils. 'For example, the GST content of rates that gets forwarded to central. A tax on a tax, some say. 'There is no resistance to working smarter and sharing services wherever possible, but scale does not always mean saving for the community - something to think about on your next trip to the supermarket or when paying your latest power or insurance bills. 'The same out of control costs have hit councils too, which does nothing to help keeping costs down.' Kawerau Mayor Faylene Tunui. Kawerau Mayor Faylene Tunui said her community was against amalgamation. 'Mayor Drysdale can speak for Tauranga, but we know our communities are firmly rooted in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and that's where our people want their representation to be. 'Our three councils are busy implementing our joint spatial plan and joint economic development plan. That's our priority, not theoretical amalgamation discussions,' Tunui said. What other Bay mayors say Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer previously told Local Democracy Reporting he did not believe his community supported amalgamating with Tauranga. Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said councils should not be afraid of change but 'negative experiences' from health and polytechnic mergers made communities wary. Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder said work needed to be done to understand where and how services were best delivered - nationally, regionally and locally - to inform the long-running debate. - Additional reporting by Alisha Evans - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
