Whanganui councillors' meeting attendance revealed

Josh Chandulal-Mackay has missed just one of 49 meetings his first 14 months on council. Photo/ Bevan Conley

Whanganui's youngest district councillor is top of the class for attendance.

Josh Chandulal-Mackay has missed only one of the 49 council or committee meetings he could have attended since being elected in 2016.

It gives the first-term councillor the highest attendance rate at 98 per cent of meetings with just one apology.

However, Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall has attended more meetings than any of his colleagues (50) but has missed three with apologies.

Mr Chandulal-Mackay said taking attendance seriously was something he felt he needed to do to prove himself as a young new councillor.

"I campaigned quite explicitly on commitment when I ran in 2016 and I was aware as a young councillor some people had a little bit of scepticism about the responsibility of people my age," he said.

"I took very seriously the endorsement I got from the community."

Mr Chandulal-Mackay said he was in New York for the meeting his missed and watched it via live stream.

Councillors' meeting attendance records requested by the Chronicle also reveal Murray Cleveland has the poorest attendance rate at 60 per cent of possible meetings.

He also has the most absences (three) and most meetings missed with apologies (16).

A seven-week holiday in Europe dented Murray Cleveland's attendance record at council meetings. Photo/ Bevan Conley

Mr Cleveland said much of that was while he was on a seven-week trip to Europe which was booked before the council election in October 2016.

Mr McDouall said he was happy with the overall records of councillors.

"You've got to remember that we have more working people on council than we've had for a while [and] we've got to be flexible around that."

Meetings attended by Whanganui district councillors: October 2016 - December 2017

Josh Chandulal-Mackay 98%
Hamish McDouall (Mayor) 94%
Graeme Young 94%
Jenny Duncan (deputy mayor) 90%
Alan Taylor 90%
Kate Joblin 88%
Philippa Baker-Hogan 82%
Helen Craig 82%
Hadleigh Reid 82%
Rob Vinsen 82%
Charlie Anderson 76%
David Bennett 69%
Murray Cleveland 60%
*alphabetical where tied