Editorial: Who's going to step up for Whanganui's rural voters?

The Whanganui Rural Community Board is a voice for rural voters at Whanganui District Council.

Editorial

Could Whanganui's rural leaders please stand up?

Two months on and we still don't know if the one Whanganui Rural Community Board seat left vacant at October's local body election will be filled.

A byelection for the board is needed because only one person stood for two seats in the Whanganui subdivision - the largest subdivision by area.

The second call for nominations has been open for two weeks and still no one has put their hand up.

It follows uncontested races in the Kaitoke and Kai Iwi subdivision where nominations equalled the vacancies this year - as happen in all three wards in 2013.

A byelection was also required in 2016 meaning the only times votes have actually been counted in three elections was in the Whanganui ward in 2016.

Rural voters – being vastly outnumbered by their urban counterparts – rightly worry about their ability to be heard at and elected to Whanganui District Council.

This is one mechanism to help address that.

The Whanganui Rural Community Board helped get cameras installed through the district to help combat stock theft. Photo / File

And that means the rural constituency - unlike many underrepresented groups which deserve a voice - is in the unique and privileged position of having a dedicated board, established in law, with powers delegated to it by the council, to advocate for it at local level.

Far from being token representation, it has influence and it has got things done.

The board's rural camera scheme is award winning.

It has been instrumental in advocating for rural broadband.

It has a budget.

Its chair has a seat (but not voting rights) at the council table which always adds a strong rural voice to debate.

Former board chairman David Matthews was an advocate for the rural community around the council table. Photo / File

It is listened to.

There are a heap of council issues which impact the rural community - climate change, roading, economic development - and its voters want a voice.

The platform for that is there. Who's going to step up?

*Nominations close on December 23 with voting (if required) closing on February 18.