Vale Tony Randle

I'm not someone known for having much time for local government and especially councillors, but I did have time for Tony Randle. Tony was a Wellington City Councillor for the Takapu/Northern Ward. He came second in his ward in the 2025 Council elections (and was one of the three elected to Takapu/Northern Ward) as he did when first elected in 2022. He passed away rather suddenly in the weekend, which was a shock for me, but not least for his family, closest friends and all those who worked with him. Some fine words have been said by Councillors with a wide range of views, and the Mayor, and Tony deserves them all. 

Tony Randle - Wellington City Councillor

I met Tony and and we had exchanged multiple emails over the years, mainly because he was passionate about transport policy, particularly making public transport better.

He was an increasingly rare individual in politics in that he wasn't really in politics. He didn't care much for labels or ideologies over outcomes, although I am sure plenty saw him on the "right", he just believed in policy that delivered results, in a Council that was fiscally prudent and didn't take more than it needed to deliver core infrastructure.

What he was passionate about was evidence and results, and he didn't go along with the views of others just to look good. He needed convincing. He was a quiet, polite and thoughtful man.  For him Council was actually about service, to do better, and not a stepping stone to a national political career or to give favours to any supporters.  

He came to my attention from articles he wrote some years ago, and then when he used to write to the Minister of Transport. He was the bête noire of light rail enthusiasts or rail enthusiasts generally, being highly sceptical of whether the cost (and the lack of flexibility) of such modes were worth it, especially for Wellington.  He was a fan of buses and busways, and making public transport better so more people wanted to use it. He was not a fan of making driving harder, more difficult, slower or less convenient to push people onto public transport.  Perhaps he would be well described as believing in abundance, but it's far better for him to describe himself (as I have included at the bottom of this post).

Although he loved robust debate, he never played the person rather than the ball. I never knew him to be rude, or use pejoratives of people he disagreed with. It was only a difference of opinion after all.

He was a fan of spreadsheets and digging into detailed analysis, and didn't accept on face value what others said were "benefits" or "results".  His greatest achievement in my book was in stopping Wellington City Council's attempt to introduce a blanket, city-wide, speed limit of 30km/h based on shoddy analysis.

Randle went through Council officials' analysis and found an error in the spreadsheet, which meant the alleged benefits of lowering speed limits were overstated by a NPV of over $250k. It was the double counting of a factor used to assess under-reporting of road crashes (crashes without injury or worse aren't legally required to be reported), which meant the alleged benefits of slowing virtually all of Wellington streets down were exaggerated. It was so significant, the consultation being carried out by WCC for the proposal was suspended and the policy hasn't seen the light of day since.  

One only has to wonder what other policies get pushed through following substandard analysis by local bureaucrats (let alone national ones) without the scrutiny of the likes of Tony. It seems unlikely anyone else on Council can come close to either the interest or willingness to replicate his passion for such detail.

He was rare and will be missed. I only wish he had stood in my ward, as unlike almost all other candidates for local government (anywhere I have lived), I would have voted for him positively.  

I'll finish with his statement for the previous Council election from Policy.nz:

Why I'm standing

I believe council investment priorities should be core infrastructure and essential services to our community. But due to party-aligned agendas, I believe our council has lost focus on ratepayer affordability, cost-effectiveness and doing the basics well. To fix this, the council must become more democratic and take the community with it when it plans for better housing, transport and environment. I'll champion a council focused on the key needs of our city and suburbs.

About me

I am an independent sitting city councillor and have been actively engaged in community service for the last 25 years. I was a senior business analyst and bring extensive experience in projects and finance. As your councillor, I have brought some sense to council such as stopping the speed management plan that was going to make most of our roads 30 km/h. I am a full-time, active and accessible councillor to everyone from Tawa to Johnsonville.

My priorities

1. Prioritise council funding towards core infrastructure and essential services, meaning lower rates.
2. Ensure that the northern ward, as a growth area, gets improved transport and infrastructure.
3. Advocate for evidence-based, transparent use of rates to make Wellington a better place to live.

Beyond being a City Councillor, he was the highly valued Wellington City Council representative on the Greater Wellington Regional Transport Committee, Deputy Chair of two WCC Committees  and member of five other Council Committees.

He was interviewed by Michael Laws about the speed limit scandal on The Platform in 2025. He was a regular on The Platform.