Want to be a Hawke's Bay councillor? You might not even need to be voted in

Hastings council Māori Wards debate last year, led by standing committee chair Mike Paku. A three-seat ward resulted, but by Wednesday afternoon just one nomination had been confirmed. Photo / NZME

Less than a fifth of the wards on Hawke's Bay councils had enough nominations to force votes at this year's Local Elections, with some fears 48 hours out from the deadline that there won't be enough to fill some of the vacancies.

Local Elections nominations close throughout the country at midday on Friday, though formal confirmation won't take place until next Wednesday, giving time for authorities to check the validity of candidates.

The concerns have been expressed by Local Government New Zealand, and were amplified by online nomination details available to Hawke's Bay Today by early-afternoon on Wednesday.

Of the 27 wards across the Wairoa, Hastings, Napier, Central Hawke's Bay and Tararua councils, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council and the Tararua sector of Manawatu-Whanganui's Horizons Regional Council only five had enough nominations to require votes in Local Elections deciders opening on September 16 and closing at midday on October 8.

Eight did not have enough nominations to fill the vacancies, including new Maori wards in the Hastings and Tararua district and a Horizons Maori ward including the Tararua District, and the Wairoa District Council Maori Ward, which was put in place three years ago.

The possible apathy also reaches into nominations for community boards within council structures.

There will however be at least three Mayoralty elections, with three nominations in Wairoa and two each in Napier and Tararua. By midday today incumbents were the only nominations in Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay.

Local Government NZ president and 2004-2016 Mayor of Tauranga Stuart Crosby said the last triennial election in 2019 had the lowest number of nominations in relation to available seats since LGNZ began collecting data, and added in relation this year: "At this rate, we risk seeing an even lower number this year."

In 2019 there were over 1600 seats to fill across councils, community boards and local boards and on average there were two candidates for every vacant seat.

"But this time around, many of our councils face the prospect of uncontested appointments, especially those outside of the big cities," he said.

Hawke's Bay's situation mirrored that elsewhere, an LGNZ spokesperson said, but Crosby, in a statement on Tuesday, highlighted Mackenzie District Council, in Canterbury, which at the time had 19 vacancies to fill, but only three nominations.

LGNZ National Council Member and Young Elected Members Committee co-chair Lan Pham issued the challenge to budding politicians, saying: "Local Government is an amazing platform to drive change. My message to anyone thinking of standing is to get their nominations in immediately."

It is however "not uncommon" to see a flurry of nominations on the last morning, but Pham said: "The number of nominations is our key indication of interest and with four days to go, I'm particularly concerned at the lack of nominations for councillors and community board members."

LGNZ national collective of Māori in governance roles in local government chair Bonita Bigham was encouraging anyone with a passion for the futures of their communities to look into all the roles available to them.

"Becoming a community board member is an excellent way to influence local decisions but doesn't require the same time commitment as a councillor or mayor," she said.

LGNZ is putting in places steps to help new councillors into their roles, with workshops and other measures early in the new term.