An aspiring Tauranga City councillor has pulled off the ambitious feat of personally visiting more than 4000 homes in the ward he hopes to be elected in.

Sheldon Nesdale says he's visited 4291 homes since setting the goal for himself in May – nearly one third of the 15,356 total households in the Otumoetai-Pyes Pa ward where he is standing.

Tauranga City councillor candidate Sheldon Nealson with son Connor on the campaign trial in the Otumoetai-Pyes Pa ward. Supplied Photos.

'I've spoken face-to-face with 1254 residents and left my election flyer at the door or letterbox of everyone else who wasn't home when I visited. I've really enjoyed the whole process, meeting people and hearing their stories,” says the 39 year-old.

'It wasn't a hard slog at all, it was a lot of fun.”

A meticulous records keeper, Sheldon's notes shows he travelled 369km by scooter or bicycle during the 98 hours he spent pounding the pavements and visiting homes.

Over the past three months Sheldon has spoken to residents in Matua, Otumoetai, Pillans Point, Bellevue, Brookfield, Judea, Bethlehem, the Lakes and Pyes Pa. Five hundred of those homes he visited with his eldest of three children, son Connor, who he says 'absolutely loved” the experience.

Sheldon recalls a common response he received from people was: 'we've lived here for 20 or 30 years and you're the first candidate to knock on our door and ask us what we think”.

'People appreciated I took the time to ask for their opinion. The number one thing they talked about was that council debt was out of control and poor spending decisions were being made behind the scenes.

'To sum the whole experience up, I think people just want to see value for money. They don't like seeing waste and they want maximum value to be achieved from their ratepayer dollars.”

Now that Sheldon's achieved his campaign goal he doesn't plan to stop there.

'I'm definitely going to keep going. I haven't heard of any other council candidates door-knocking to this extent but it's a great opportunity to learn and hear what people have to say.”

The idea to personally door-knock thousands of homes was born during interviews Sheldon conducted with past and present councillors, and mayors around New Zealand, to research what the job entailed.

He says several successful councillors suggested it was the way to go, but he was hesitant at first.

'Then I realised what a great opportunity it was to find out what was on people's minds; what their ideas and concerns were. It's all valuable knowledge, so I set my goal of visiting 4000 homes and away I went,” says Sheldon.

Nominations for this year's Tauranga City Council election close on August 12.

For more information about Sheldon visit: www.iamlistening.co.nz

A meticulous records keeper, Sheldon says he's spoken face-to-face with 1254 residents in the Otumoetai-Pyes Pa ward where he is standing. Supplied Photo.