New Whangārei Mayor Ken Couper at the Whangārei District Council swearing-in ceremony. Photo / Susan Botting
New Whangārei Mayor Ken Couper says the council must honour the past while providing for the talented young people who are the district’s future.
Couper’s comments came in his first mayoral address at the Whangārei District Council (WDC) inauguration ceremony at Forum North on Wednesday.
Fourteen politicians were sworn in at the ceremony, which followed a pōwhiri at Whangārei’s Terenga Parāoa Marae on October 29.
It is the 13th council to take the helm since WDC was formed in 1989.
About 150 people attended in person at Forum North’s Te Kotahitanga exhibition hall, while hundreds watched via livestreaming.
Among those at Forum North were three former Whangārei Mayors: Vince Cocurullo, Sheryl Mai and Stan Semenoff.
Couper witnessed new Deputy Mayor Scott McKenzie and councillors Tangiwai Baker, David Baldwin, Crichton Christie, Nicholas Connop, Brad Flower, Deb Harding, Marie Olsen, Steve Martin, Simon Reid and Matthew Yovich signing their oaths of office.
Phoenix Ruka and Paul Yovich were unable to attend the inauguration and will be sworn in on November 11.
“As a community we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us,” Couper said.
“We benefit from the generations of hard work and the investment those generations made in what was often a future they might not see, or investments they may not reap the rewards of.”
He said the council’s mahi was about blending that past with the future.
“Recently I have been attending prizegiving ceremonies at our Whangārei secondary schools. The power of our young people is undeniable, as is the promise they hold as a cohort.
“The need to honour those who have gone before and provide for those who are coming in the future, those very talented young people – that is the responsibility that we must accept as the 2025 iteration of the council.”
Waipu’s Couper is a third generation Whangārei local government politician.
His father, Peter, was a member of Whangārei County Council from 1972-1982. His great-grandfather, John Garland, was part of an earlier Whangārei local government iteration.
Couper wore the Whangārei County Council mayoral chains at the ceremony to honour that past.
Meanwhile, new councillor, Marua’s Steve Martin, is a second-generation WDC politician.
His father, Greg Martin, was a WDC councillor for 15 years.
Couper said WDC’s new top table had been elected to positions of respect as individuals.
Whether they still held that respect at the end of the term depended on how well they worked together, how they overcame their differences and how each person demonstrated their commitment to outcomes that answered the challenges the community set.
Couper said WDC had faced challenges in recent years.
Economic recovery had been slow and the pressures from those challenges were being felt by many.
He said local government had needed to pivot quickly in response to changing central government direction and legislative reform.
These changes had brought far-reaching impacts in areas including representation and water services reform.
Couper said Northland councils needed to unify as they focused on growing a stronger community and strengthening Te Tiriti o Waitangi-based relationships.
Increased collaboration included continuing to work on setting up the region’s new inter-council water service organisation.
It also included balancing growth and infrastructure pressures with rates affordability.
Meanwhile, the local election saw the return of a 35-year Whangārei local government politician veteran in Christie, who has worked under six different mayors.
Christie said he had returned for an eighth council stint because he felt there was more he could contribute.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.