Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo’s waistcoats add style to summer gardening

Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo's trademark vests will add aplomb to his summer gardening

Northland’s three mayors have had a busy year. As they head into their summer holidays, Susan Botting catches up with each of them, learns what the holiday season means for them and asks the all-important question – will they be standing again in 2025?

Summer is no time to let sartorial style slip for Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo.

The mayor’s trademark vests are still out in full force even over summer’s downtime, as he enjoys tending the vineyard grape vines at his Whangārei home, planted on the property by his Italian grandfather Giacomo Cocurullo.

He is the third generation of his family to live in his family home, also built by his grandfather.

His typical gardening attire involves a vest paired with one of his typical dress shirts, trousers and shoes.

“I was up a ladder at the front of the property trimming the olive trees with an electric hedge trimmer. A passerby asked if she could take a photo of me up the ladder – wearing my vest,” Cocurullo said.

Wearing his brighter, lighter vests is de rigeur when gardening at home over summer, selected from among a dozen-strong suite of the mayoral wardrobe essential.

These contrast with others in a range of materials and colours – including a black suit vest which, along with its matching trousers, was burned in Whangārei’s mid-October Northland Drycleaners fire.

Cocurullo was more concerned about the business’ staff, phoning to check everybody was okay rather than about losing this attire in the fire.

The fire destroyed this dry cleaners, along with one of the mayor's famous waistcoats.

His gardening ensemble means he is always ready to go.

“There might at any minute be a radio or television interview to do. I’ve got to be ready.”

Vests are his thing, worn 365 days a year. Including under his mayoral robes, to council meetings, official functions, opening new buildings, events, volunteering and even to the beach, if he were to go – although not to swim in.

His collection now also includes two brightly coloured “Whangārei Love it Here” branded vests.

Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo's office includes his red mayoral robe in the background, under which there's always a vest too.

Cocurullo might only have 100m of the mixed traditional Italian Fragola grapes his grandfather planted, and some newer white diamond grapes – but he describes them as his vineyard.

Mostly the fruits of the vine are simply harvested as grapes.

Cocurullo also took bags of grapes into the Whangārei District Council head office for staff when the availability of local fruit dwindled during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Covid-19 lockdowns gave him time to make wine.

His gardening’s done in short stints rather than whole days at a time.

“I’m there for an absolute maximum of two hours at a time,” he said.

Come January, Cocurullo’s gardening will be all about keeping pesky birds away from making it through the netting covering his vines to the bunches of ripening grapes.

The vines combine with fruit trees, including a dozen feijoas and olives, along with herbs his gardening typically focuses on. Wife Lee Cocurullo concentrates more on the garden’s flowers as they share their pastime together.

Summer is a time for family and friends for the mayor, who is fulfilling an ambition first declared in his primary school playground more than 40 years ago.

Elected as mayor in 2022, Cocurullo helms New Zealand’s eighth-largest council with a $195,000 annual operating budget, 14 politicians (including his role), 400 staff and 110,000 residents.

The 2025 local elections are on the horizon.

Cocurullo would not be drawn on whether he would be standing for mayor again at these next elections, beyond saying: “There’s a lot of infrastructure work I still want to see put in place for Whangārei and Northland.”

A major change for Whangārei voters in 2025 will be the way the council’s voting system works.

Cocurullo, who is also Northland Mayoral Forum chair, said State Highway 1’s newest four-lane Pūhoi to Warkworth northward extension was already creating benefits for Whangārei and Northland.

The roughly 18km extension has cut 20 minutes drive time off the trip between Auckland and Northland, Cocurullo said.

“People are already finding the extension makes the drive to or from Northland less fatiguing.”

This in turn was resulting in fewer accidents.

Cocurullo and the leaders of Northland’s three other councils have lobbied hard for this latest four-lane SH1 extension to push further north into Te Tai Tokerau. They are pleased with the latest Government plans for this.

Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo's typical attire of dress shirt, tie, vest, dress pants and smart shoes all speak to his Italian heritage.

Meanwhile, Cocurullo said a major project to get Northland’s power transmission network upgraded to carry locally-produced Te Tai Tokerau electricity from places such as the Far North’s Kaitāia and Kaipara’s Pouto to Marsden Point was another major infrastructure project now in the spotlight.

Once the Northland-generated power reached Marsden Point, transmission lines from there to Auckland already had enough capacity to carry it to New Zealand’s largest city.

Northland’s already-existing geothermal and solar power production was steadily expanding.

“We’re going to be producing more power than Northland needs.”

Cocurullo said summer doesn’t really mean time off for the mayor of Northland’s only city.

The mayoral role is ever-present.

The district's population swells over summer.

Cocurullo is also Northland Civil Defence’s deputy chair, with Northland’s summer potentially cyclone season.

He says there’s something for everyone in the district – diving at the Poor Knights, fishing at Ocean Beach, swimming at Waipu Cove.

Whangārei’s 105,000 population increases by more than 10,000 people over summer, which Cocurullo calls beach season.

“It’s great to see so many people coming into our district over summer.”

The district’s roughly 1000km coastline, with 100 beaches from about Bland Bay in the north to Langs Beach in the south, attracts people from all over New Zealand and around the world.

“There’s plenty to do, from beaches to shopping to experiences and more,” Cocurullo said.

“Have fun with friends and family, look out for each other and be safe.

“Welcome to Whangārei District.”

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.