Strong list of candidates for Tararua District elections

Tararua is in for an exciting time leading up to local body elections in October.

Incumbent Tararua mayor Tracey Collis and all but two of the current Tararua District councillors have thrown their hats into the ring to seek re-election.

Collis is being challenged for the mayoralty by Independent James Harold and Mitch McHardy for Aotearoa Independent.

The two councillors not seeking re-election are Northern ward councillor and deputy mayor Allan Benbow and Southern ward councillor Andy Thompson.

It's the four seats on council representing the Northern ward that has attracted the most nominations with 13 candidates putting their names forward, 10 of them new faces.

By 9am Friday nine nominations had been received, with the final four arriving late morning.

The election for the Southern ward will see five candidates vie for the four seats.
Candidate profiles will be released later in the week and will be published.

Meet the candidate sessions are being planned and these will be publicised.

Voting documents will be sent out to households between September 20 and 25 and electors can post these back to electoral officers as soon as they have voted.

Polling day is October 12. Voting papers must be at the council office by 12 noon.

Preliminary results will be available as soon as possible afterwards.

The official results will be declared as soon after that date as possible.

To help voters make informed decisions, council chief executive Blair King has prepared a Pre-Election Report (PER). This report is independent of the mayor and councillors, as required by the Local Government Act 2002.

The report provides information about the issues facing the district, summarising council's financial statements and forecast rate increases, as well as providing information on key projects which are in the planning stages.

King says he hopes the report will stimulate discussion and he is encouraging people to seek out further information from council's annual plan, long term plan and annual report.

Copies of the PER and these other documents can be found on council's website, or they can be picked up at council service centres throughout the district.

King says Tararua District Council is on track to deliver on the projects and programmes outlined in the 2018-2028 Long Term Plan (LTP), with many of the projects in response to factors council has little, or no, control over.

These include increasing regulatory pressures, mitigating the impacts of climate change, or building resilience in both the roading network and wastewater, stormwater and drinking water networks.

In its 2018-2028 LTP council is also committed to promoting economic development, investing in activities which will attract more people to our district, assist business owners and entrepreneurs to either grow their existing business or establish new ones.

List of candidates:
Mayor
1 vacancy
Tracey Collis
James Harold (Independent)
Mitch McHardy (Aotearoa Independent)
North Tararua ward
4 vacancies
Philip Barnett
Jim Crispin
Paddy Driver (Community first)
Neil Gibbard (Approachable, accountable, community minded)
Carole Isaacson
Michael Long
Kay McKenzie
Kathryn Mulinder (Passionate Open-minded Approachable)
Punga Mullins
Erana Peeti-Webber (A fresh young voice for the future)
Brent Stewart (New Voice, Working for You)
Kerry Sutherland
Sharon Wards
South Tararua ward
4 vacancies
Alison Franklin
Shirley Hull
Peter Johns
Raylene Ann Treder (New ideas, fresh youthful energy and genuine passion)
Rena Tyler
Dannevirke Community Board
4 vacancies
Malia Hema (Working with the community for the community)
Terry Hynes
Ross MacDonald
Kim Spooner-Taylor
Pat Walshe
Eketahuna Community Board
4 vacancies
Terry Carew
Denise Clifton (Independent)
Charlie Death
Steen McGhie
Pauline Wilson