Helen Worboys re-elected to lead Manawatū District Council

Manawatu Mayor Helen Worboys - re-elected in 2019 for a further three-year term.

Helen Worboys was re-elected to the Manawatū District Council mayoralty, and the GDP hit over $1 billion for the first time.

This increases the Manawatū region GDP to $5 billion.

"One of the main drivers for Manawatū district is the strong trade conditions currently for our primary exports," Mayor Worboys said.

"Our rural economy is our point of difference to the city.

"The city also benefits from our strong economy because of the support services the city provides such as distribution hubs, transportation and logistics."

Mayor Worboys says it's a win-win for the city and the district, and there's more to come.

"We know that over the next 10 years there is about $3 billion worth of public sector investment coming in to the Manawatū region such as Linton Army and Ōhakea Air Force bases, regional roading projects, Kiwi Rail distribution hub, health education and Powerco.

"Added to this is the increasing private investment with population and business growth forecasted to continue to grow."

Mayor Worboys was elected with an increased majority.

A sheep and beef farmer at Mt Biggs, she says her background brings a no-nonsense approach to how she works and sees her job as part of a team.

Getting stuck in to help, hands-on is Mayor Worboys' approach.

"I am proud to have been part of a council for the past three years.

"Due to council's internal efficiencies, innovation and the contribution from population and business growth we have lowered rate increases."

She added that growth has been around 1.6percent for the last two years as new ratepayers bring in more rates, which in turn spreads the burden for all ratepayers.

Mayor Worboys also attributed this success to her previous 25 years of work leading the Feilding Promotions team.

The second achievement is the Town Centre Vision and earthquake strengthening.

"This is a passion of mine and my goal is to take it a step further."

The earthquake strengthening she says is financial suicide, where 90 buildings will either need to be strengthened or demolished over the next seven and a half years.

"This will severely impact the look and feel of our town centre."

One of the buildings is the last remaining Edwardian commercial building in the country.

"While supporting our building owners through this daunting and expensive process, we also need to plan for business continuity to keep our businesses open, people employed and customers able to shop and do business.

"Supporting local businesses is crucial."

The third achievement over the last three years was the Feilding Waste Water Treatment Plant which irrigated to land over the summer months, one year ahead of consent requirements, and on track to do the same again this summer.