Local Focus: Country singer turned business advocate wants a crack at Tauranga Council

Business consultant Erika Harvey is running for Tauranga Council in the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa Ward because she says the council is "broken".

"We are paying millions of dollars in consultant fees when really the experts are actually here in the city and are local," Harvey said.

Cr Catherine Stewart is not running for the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa Ward this year, and Harvey has high hopes to take her seat.

She sat down for a video interview, and told Local Focus all about her plans.

"I think the current council have probably been in the role for too long and they've lost sight of what is actually like to live here and be a resident here. A lot of the decisions that are being made don't have a local focus in mind."

Harvey is used to campaigning. Last year she wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern asking her to fix the funding model for schools with children who have special needs.

Harvey's 8-year-old daughter Piper is autistic and is one of 24 special and high-needs students at Greerton Village School – which was facing a $118,482 funding shortfall last year.

Harvey has also been pushing for Tauranga Council to review the design of the $11.4 million Marine Precinct - which she says was poorly designed and is costing businesses money.

Harvey, her husband Dan and his father Russell own Longline Fishing Company, a business which provides fish to Michelin-starred restaurants around the world.

"A lot of the work I've been doing is highlighting a lot of errors around design, around engagement and it really is the basic fundamentals of business," Harvey said.

"We have been having meetings with the council for three years where nobody was even listening to the feedback we were saying. Unfortunately, because they didn't listen, we are having accidents in the precinct, and there's a lot of angry people who are looking to sue the council for damages that have been caused from the wrong design of the precinct."

Made with funding from