Residents’ advocate Tony Simons will run in the Riccarton Ward in the October local body elections.
The ward is currently held by first-term councillor Tyla Harrison-Hunt.
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Simons, chair of the Riccarton Bush-Kilmarnock Residents Association, was a prominent critic of many aspects of the city council’s Plan Change 14 which intensifies housing.
He is running as an independent for the election.
Simons is the first of an expected run of people who will announce their bid for council in the coming weeks.
Already, Heathcote Ward councillor Sara Templeton has declared she will try and topple Phil Mauger as mayor.
Whether to sell or partly sell council-owned assets like Lyttelton Port Company and Christchurch Airport has been an election issue for many years, and 2025 looks no different.
Left leaning councillors The People’s Choice grouping have been against selling off assets, while right leaning councillors have been in favour.
As an independent, Simons said he would have no affiliations with any grouping.
Tony Simons spent the past two-and-a-half years successfully fighting against suburban intensification in the Riccarton Bush area. Reporter Dylan Smits finds out more about him
Tony Simons enjoys driving trams part-time and showing off the sights of the city. Photot: Supplied
Making a difference as journalist and advocate
A career in radio journalism may have sparked Tony Simons’ interest in grassroots advocacy.
“As a reporter you get to make a difference when you’re telling stories and see how that improves people’s knowledge. I think that might have helped my interest in local issues,” Simons said.
He cites covering the 1984 Southland floods and helping to start Plains FM as its first general manager as career highlights.
“It’s definitely ingrained in my mind. I remember half the city (Invercargill) being underwater and just going out with a microphone and recorder to interview people.
“I remember people just shovelling mud out of their homes and when I went live on Morning Report, I actually couldn’t speak and got really choked up.”
He remembers it as “not his finest hour” for professionalism, but hopes it left an impact on those listening.
Simons studied journalism at Wellington Polytechnic and got his first radio job in Rotorua before stints at various RNZ newsrooms in Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington between 1981 and 1987.
Only three months after starting work as a reporter, Simons had an opportunity to interview then-Prime Minister Robert Muldoon.
A search and rescue operation had located two girls lost in the bush and Simons asked Muldoon for his thoughts.
“I got an opportunity to stick a mic at him but I did the things journalists are always taught not to do which is to ask closed questions. He was a pretty prickly sort of guy and just responded ‘yes’ and ‘no’ so it was unusable.”
In 1987, Simons was asked by CPIT to manage Plains FM, a new community access radio station for central Canterbury.
“It was quite out of my comfort zone and on a small budget, but it was good fun. It gave a lot of community groups and volunteers the opportunity to broadcast.”
In 1990, he returned to radio news in management roles for RNZ in Christchurch and at Radio Marlborough.
Simons then started working at CPIT in 1996. He taught some radio journalism courses but his main role was as business development and relationship manager.
He later became head of the New Zealand Broadcasting School at CPIT, later Ara, from 2010 to 2021.
“It felt like the natural progression of my career and it was a great job. I’m proud that the school produces some of our best broadcasters in radio and television,” he said.
As head of the school, Simons focused on instilling the values of integrity and objectivity in the students.
“I always aimed to teach that the story comes first and any personal views need to be put aside.”
He retired from journalism in 2023 after a stint at The Star.
Nowadays, alongside his work as Kilmarnock-Riccarton Bush Residents Association chair, Simons is a city tram driver three days a week.
He was looking for something to occupy him and believes his “radio voice” was a natural fit for the guided tram tours.
Simons believes he has now mastered the delicate art of smooth tram breaking.
“It’s more difficult to stop than people would think.”
