Vote 2022: Six new faces elected to Rotorua Lakes Council

The owner of a pub and a former nightclub DJ are among at least six new faces joining the Rotorua Lakes Council.

Progressive results, as of midday Saturday when 21,020 votes had been counted, meant that Gregg Brown, Robert Lee, Don Paterson, Lani Kereopa, Rawiri Waru and Karen Barker had been elected.

Conan O'Brien could be a seventh newcomer but was not far ahead of Merepeka Raukawa-Tait in the progress results.

According to the results, Pig & Whistle pub owner Brown received the most votes (5732) behind current councillors Sandra Kai Fong (6985) and Fisher Wang (6864).

Brown said it was hard to describe. "I thought I might get there but I was never sure," he told the Rotorua Daily Post.

"It feels good to get the opportunity to make a difference."

Brown said he brought a "fairly broad experience" to his new role and thought the voters had clearly demonstrated "they want change".

"I'll be happy when we've made good decisions and implemented them well. Then I'll celebrate."

New councillor Robert Lee said he received a call about the results after a game of golf at the Springfield Golf Club.

He said he had a "quiet celebration" there before attending the Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers Association election function.

Lee was the only successful candidate of the four endorsed by the Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers Association in this local election.

"I'm pleased for the team of people that have gotten elected. I think it shows it's time for change."

Lee said he wanted to prioritise taking "a close look" at the Te Arawa partnership agreement and removing the reserves bill from Parliament.

Former radio and nightclub DJ Don Paterson said Saturday was "a happy day". Photo / NZME

Paterson, a former radio and nightclub DJ, was grateful for the support from the community and was looking forward to repaying them.

In his view, transparency and engagement with the community needed to be prioritised as the newly elected council began their work.

"Leaving people in the dark leads to misunderstandings and disconnect. People can stop caring and that's the worst thing," Paterson said.

"If we're going to turn this city around, it needs to be everybody working together. The change has to come from inside."

Paterson said he'd lived in Rotorua for the majority of his life and wanted to see the community's sense of pride restored.

Top-polling Māori Ward candidate Lani Kereopa said she was grateful to everyone who came out to vote. Photo / Supplied

Top-polling Māori Ward candidate Kereopa said she was grateful to everyone who came out to vote.

"Grateful to those of our whānau on the Māori roll who are engaged and proactive and going out and voting and for putting their trust in me to represent them on local council."

Kereopa hoped to learn as much as possible about the inner workings of the council in the coming months.

"I have a little bit of experience working with the council on the iwi, community side and I'm interested in learning about those inner workings so that I can address some of the issues I faced as a community member trying to get the support we needed."

First-time candidate Waru filled the third Māori Ward seat after gaining 1446 votes, coming in behind veteran councillor Trevor Maxwell (1542).

Waru has been on the operations and monitoring committee of Rotorua Lakes Council for the past five years.

He said he had been working on the farm and had not had his phone with him the whole time but he did receive provisional confirmation of his election on Saturday.

"To the people who voted for me, thank you, a big thank you. I won't let you down."

Waru said he was keen to sit down with the other newly elected councillors to discuss and agree on a list of priorities.

"There are a lot of challenges ahead. I'll be keen to see where everyone's priorities are and find common ground rather than going lone ranger style."

Barker beat Rotorua Rural Community Board chairwoman Shirley Trumper (698) to become councillor for the new Rotorua Rural Ward.

Barker had 1315 votes as of midday Saturday when 90 per cent of ballots had been counted.

Conan O'Brien was the fourth new candidate in the polls with 4339 votes as of Saturday's progress count and did not want to comment because of the close margin between himself and sitting councillor Merepeka Ruakawa-Tait.

The progressive results showed Raukawa-Tait had 4074 votes, 265 behind O'Brien.

Preliminary results had not been released at edition time and official results will not be released until late this week or next week.

Rotorua Lakes Community Board

This year there was no Rotorua Lakes Community Board election. As there were the same number of candidates and vacant seats, all candidates were elected unopposed.

Rotorua Lakes Community Board Members:

• Phill Thomass (chairperson)

• Peter MacMillan

• Nick Chater

• Stephanie George