Slow start to byelection campaigns

You could be forgiven for not realising a major byelection is about to take place in Mount Maunganui and Papamoa but candidates hope that will change with the announcement of the first Meet the Candidates event.

The extraordinary vacancy was created by the departure of councillor Clayton Mitchell, who resigned shortly after becoming a parliamentarian as a NZ First list MP.

The vote for Mount Maunganui and Papamoa's new representative in Tauranga City Council is four weeks away but campaigning has been relatively dormant so far.

Candidates Clare Wilson, Murray Guy, Leanne Brown, Matua Parkinson and Janet Peters are yet to make any major strides in their campaigns for the seat, just four weeks from byelection day on February 17.

So far there have been zero applications from candidates to the council to erect public property hoardings, which candidates are able to do from next Tuesday.

Council electoral legal and governance manager Kirsty Downey-McGuire said two candidates had spoken to council staff but that was it.

Mrs Wilson said she was surprised at how few people knew there was a byelection looming.

However, she was waiting until people were back from holiday next week before getting stuck into campaigning, she said.

Ms Brown had already begun her campaign online over the new year with a Facebook page dedicated to her cause.

"For me, obviously I wanted to be first cab off the rank and show that enthusiasm for the position," Ms Brown said.

"There's a lot you can do in terms of campaigning pre-election forms going out," she said.

"But given the Christmas-New Year season, it's probably made things a little more complicated."

Ms Brown said the lead-up to the byelection had been quiet.

"There hasn't been a lot of campaigning but to be fair, a lot of people are probably away."

She expected there would be more campaigning from candidates from January 26 when election papers go out.

"When you get five people standing, that means it could be quite competitive in terms of every single vote."

Ms Peters said she would ramp up her campaign through various platforms from next week.

She also was looking to digest the city council information such as annual reports and the 10 year plan.

All three women said they were looking forward to the first Meet the Candidates event hosted by the Papamoa Progressive Society on February 9 at the Papamoa Sports and Recreation Club.

Mr Guy and Mr Parkinson did not return messages yesterday in time for today's publication.