Chris Perley to stand in Hastings District Council byelection

Chris Perley has thrown his name in the hat for the Hastings District Council byelection. Photo / Duncan Brown

With only 10 days left before nominations close for the Hastings District Council byelection another contender has announced he will be throwing his hat in the ring.

Hastings resident Chris Perley stood in the 2016 election for the Hastings/Havelock North ward and is having another go because he still thinks a vision is needed for Hawke's Bay, to raise its potential.

He had considered running in the byelection last year, but said he decided to have a break as he had just come out of campaigning for the Green Party in the Tukituki electorate during the general election.

"I still think we need to get out of this cargo cult mentality where we wait for a big industry to come in, such as water bottling plants, which take from the resources and encourage cheap wages.

"Instead of rejoicing about that, we should be encouraging start-ups and longer value chains, and working in partnership to create a region that's attractive for people to live in.

"We can create a high-value, high wage economy where people are able to be creative, the environment is looked after, and a culture that is more community focused and connected."

Although he said it was not the council's sole responsibility to make such a vision come to life, it could facilitate the partnerships that encouraged such behaviour, which could position Hawke's Bay as a vibrant, environmentally friendly, high-quality, high-tech region to live and work in.

For such transformational thinking, he said, a shift away from the bureaucratic, box-ticking mentality would be needed, as would a shift from thinking in silos as had happened across Hastings, Napier and Central Hawke's Bay.

"We need to be working together and governors need to be stimulating such thinking - we need a council that thinks creatively, is flexible and is not afraid of such a change."

Nominations for the byelection close on February 13, and voting papers would be delivered in the Hastings/Havelock North ward from Tuesday, March 20, with voting closing on April 11.

Along with Mr Perley, the other candidates confirmed so far are Eileen Lawson, Bruce Bisset and Rion Roben.