Local Focus: Mayor Jenny Shattock warns river clean-up may cost jobs

Around the country, mayors elected in October 2016 are reaching the half-way point in their three-year terms.

Local Focus journalist Hunter Calder caught up with South Waikato Mayor Jenny Shattock to reflect on her first term so far.

Shattock said she was comfortable now she had her "feet under the desk" and felt lucky to be mayor at a time of growth.

Shattock said there was a lack of housing in the district and often it was newcomers buying homes and forcing the locals out. However, she said there were plans to rezone farmland on the edge of town for housing.

Shattock "definitely, definitely'" supported the Healthy Rivers Wai Ora Project but warned it could impact the region badly, costing hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars lost because of the impact on forestry and farming.

Going forward, Shattock said she wanted to communicate better with the people who voted her in and ensure they had the opportunity to have their voices heard.

"It used to be representative democracy, you were voted in, and you were voted in to do the job, and you got on with doing the job," she said.

"Now it's more inclusive democracy, you're voted in but actually, [the public] want to tell you how to do it, in every decision you make."

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