Western Bay of Plenty District councillor Mark Dean talks to Local Focus about the environment and development ahead of October's local body elections.
Dean has lived in Oropi for 40 years, playing a key role in balancing business growth with environmental sustainability, including founding business Naturally Native NZ Plants.
He wants to use his area of expertise to improve environmental sustainability.
"There's over 100,000 tonnes of waste that goes over the Kaimais every year to landfills, and we can really do a lot to reduce that when 40 per cent of that is food products," he says.
"We have to look after our environment."
