20984
Interview with Mr Noel Pope, part two
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Summary
IntervieweeMr Noel Pope
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Previous PartInterview with Mr Noel Pope, part one
Reference Number0148/19/47OverviewTauranga from 1938 and civic affairs 1974 to 1989. Greerton development. Electricity department.
Noel Pope (1931-2019)
In 1988 the Tauranga District Museum Oral History Unit began capturing the voices of older residents, many of whom had made a significant contribution to the development of our city. One such prominent resident was former Mayor, Noel Pope. With Noel’s passing on 15 August 2019 his recording, taped in October 1990, is all the more valuable.
Noel begins the interview by recalling his early years. “I did come from Hamilton in 1938 to Tauranga and then we had a population of something less than 3500. So, you could walk anywhere in the city and be well introduced to almost everyone. As a young fella, of course I got a lot of parental advice from nearly every resident here.”
However, it is his 27 years as a Councillor and his time as Deputy Mayor and Mayor, which Noel recalls in greatest detail. “The next thing I’m a Councillor and so I had to readapt some of my thinking into those areas and I became quite involved in the Council. I thought I would take the same attitude into that as I did into my rugby and my athletics – if you’re in there you do your best. If you’re ever given the opportunity to put something back into a community you’ve enjoyed having been a part of then you’ve really got to get out there and do the best you can.”
When asked for his most significant achievement as a local body politician Noel suggested it was his involvement in the development of the Harbour Bridge. “It really just took a bit of let’s do it fellas instead of talking about it. And yet, believe it or not, even in this enlightened day and age I had a divided Council. There was not a unanimous Council. There were some very strong views on why we shouldn’t do it and some equally strong views on why we should do it. Now of course people wonder why it wasn’t built years ago. It just shows you how fickle and very susceptible local government is on issues everybody says are sensible. The bridge issue taught me you can’t take anything for granted.”
His greatest regret was the way things worked out during the 1989 local government reforms. “The bit that we didn’t get right and the bit I wasn’t able to achieve, which was my strong view at the time I was Mayor, was the one District Council. So, if I’ve got a regret in the whole thing it is that we just couldn’t get that last bit right. I’ll certainly live to see it achieved but I won’t be part of that now.” Little did he know that he wasn’t done with local government, again serving as Mayor from October 1995 until October 2001.
His advice to future Councils “… I think far stronger measures on cleaning up the harbour, we’re now getting into some very serious environmental problems here. One of the great things about growth is all the excitement of doing all these things. But at the same time when you live in an environment like we do with the harbour, which is our biggest gem, that’s been overlooked in the past by industry and even by the community, there’s going to have to be a lot of money put into good sensible planning. On I think the foreshore and the way we dispose of our sewage. The way we organise the use of the harbour. That will take some strong politicians to make sure that it works, but they’d be thanked in 20 years from now … all due respects to the Council and I’ve been part of that planning process, they really only plan for the day, they’re in there for whatever time and that’s all they think about”.InterviewerGraham BurkettDate of Interview63 yrsOccasion/ProjectOral History Unit Project
Noel Pope (1931-2019)
In 1988 the Tauranga District Museum Oral History Unit began capturing the voices of older residents, many of whom had made a significant contribution to the development of our city. One such prominent resident was former Mayor, Noel Pope. With Noel’s passing on 15 August 2019 his recording, taped in October 1990, is all the more valuable.
Noel begins the interview by recalling his early years. “I did come from Hamilton in 1938 to Tauranga and then we had a population of something less than 3500. So, you could walk anywhere in the city and be well introduced to almost everyone. As a young fella, of course I got a lot of parental advice from nearly every resident here.”
However, it is his 27 years as a Councillor and his time as Deputy Mayor and Mayor, which Noel recalls in greatest detail. “The next thing I’m a Councillor and so I had to readapt some of my thinking into those areas and I became quite involved in the Council. I thought I would take the same attitude into that as I did into my rugby and my athletics – if you’re in there you do your best. If you’re ever given the opportunity to put something back into a community you’ve enjoyed having been a part of then you’ve really got to get out there and do the best you can.”
When asked for his most significant achievement as a local body politician Noel suggested it was his involvement in the development of the Harbour Bridge. “It really just took a bit of let’s do it fellas instead of talking about it. And yet, believe it or not, even in this enlightened day and age I had a divided Council. There was not a unanimous Council. There were some very strong views on why we shouldn’t do it and some equally strong views on why we should do it. Now of course people wonder why it wasn’t built years ago. It just shows you how fickle and very susceptible local government is on issues everybody says are sensible. The bridge issue taught me you can’t take anything for granted.”
His greatest regret was the way things worked out during the 1989 local government reforms. “The bit that we didn’t get right and the bit I wasn’t able to achieve, which was my strong view at the time I was Mayor, was the one District Council. So, if I’ve got a regret in the whole thing it is that we just couldn’t get that last bit right. I’ll certainly live to see it achieved but I won’t be part of that now.” Little did he know that he wasn’t done with local government, again serving as Mayor from October 1995 until October 2001.
His advice to future Councils “… I think far stronger measures on cleaning up the harbour, we’re now getting into some very serious environmental problems here. One of the great things about growth is all the excitement of doing all these things. But at the same time when you live in an environment like we do with the harbour, which is our biggest gem, that’s been overlooked in the past by industry and even by the community, there’s going to have to be a lot of money put into good sensible planning. On I think the foreshore and the way we dispose of our sewage. The way we organise the use of the harbour. That will take some strong politicians to make sure that it works, but they’d be thanked in 20 years from now … all due respects to the Council and I’ve been part of that planning process, they really only plan for the day, they’re in there for whatever time and that’s all they think about”.InterviewerGraham BurkettDate of Interview63 yrsOccasion/ProjectOral History Unit Project
Relates To
Part of Audio Visual CollectionsTauranga District Museum Oral History UnitPart of Audio Visual FileInterview with Mr Noel Pope
Conservation
Production NotesRecorded in analogue, digitied to optical disc in 2007, wav file extracted 2017.
Admin
Acc No0148/19
Interview with Mr Noel Pope, part two. Pae Korokī, accessed 26/04/2025, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/20984
