Local Focus: Rural candidate takes a dig at incumbents

Rural Community Board Chairperson Shirley Trumper is eyeing up a council seat in the upcoming local body elections.

An "exorbitant" rates rise was the catalyst for the move, with Trumper saying that rural Rotorua feels left out of the council's current plans.

"Over the next couple of years, we need to start investigating our rural villages," she said.

"They are residents in our region and they deserve to have some kind of support and that's not what they're seeing at the moment."

In the video interview with Local Focus, Trumper discussed her work at Citizens Advice Bureau and as a dairy farmer in Waikite Valley, homelessness outside Rotorua and the need to moderate rates increases.

Trumper also questioned the commitment of some current incumbent councillors.

"We need councillors that actually realise it's not just turning up to three meetings a month," she said.

"You actually have to engage with the community. You need to be able to read and understand your agendas when you turn up. And you need to be able to contribute so that people understand, that you understand what you're talking about.

"I can assure you that around the table that is not always the case."

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