Local elections 2022: Alan Taylor seeking election to Horizons Regional Council

Alan Taylor is not seeking re-election to Whanganui District Council and is setting his sights on Horizons Regional Council instead. Photo / Bevan Conley

Alan Taylor rode into the Whanganui District Council chamber as a member of the Beyond 2030 quartet in 2016.

The foursome consisting of Taylor, David Bennett, Murray Cleveland, and Graeme Young was nicknamed "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and campaigned on overturning the expensive wastewater treatment plant proposal and reducing rates increases.

Taylor, having served three terms as chairman of the rural community board, was also a mayoral candidate that year.

A lot has changed in six years - the new wastewater treatment plant finally got over the line and has been functioning efficiently since 2017.

Bennett and Cleveland did not stand for re-election and Taylor was happy to endorse Mayor Hamish McDouall when he successfully stood for re-election as a councillor in 2019.

Young was also re-elected in 2019 and confirmed in July this year that he is ready for retirement after serving two terms.

Taylor is now in the running to represent Whanganui, this time on the Horizons Regional Council.

He is up against Allan Wrigglesworth and incumbent David Cotton.

"It just seems like the next logical step," said Taylor.

"The experiences of serving on the rural community board and then on the council have prepared me well to represent Whanganui at a regional level."

A big focus for Taylor during the past six years has been on environmental concerns and the council's need to address climate change.

He introduced a motion for the council to declare a climate emergency in February 2020 and said he was proud of those who supported the motion despite having initial reservations.

"I have seen that often with this council, there has been a lot of willingness by councillors to consider opposing points of view and to accept decisions they have not agreed with," said Taylor.

"The climate emergency decision has been one of the highlights of my time on this council."

As chairman of the infrastructure committee, Taylor also led the charge to lobby the forestry industry to pay a bigger share of the cost of rural road repairs.

Taylor said he could not think of any real downsides to his time on the council and believes the current line-up had performed well.

"We have been a good team and although there have been occasional disagreements around the table I have never felt the need to walk out over anything," he said.

"The worst thing that has happened was that I once crashed my car on the way home from a council meeting. No one else was involved, no one was hurt and it was my fault. If that's the worst that has happened in six years, I think I've been pretty lucky."

Taylor said there are many aspects of the job he will miss but his time in the council chamber is likely to continue if he is elected to serve with Horizons.

"Whanganui and Horizons councils have overlapping responsibilities for flood risk and I think the coordination could have been better managed in 2015.

"If I am elected, I will certainly be attending Whanganui District Council meetings."

Taylor said he received good advice from long-serving Whanganui District councillor the late Sue Westwood when he first decided to run for election.

"She advised me to be patient with the process. 'If you don't respect the process, it won't respect you,' she said.

"I've heeded that advice and my advice to new councillors would be to approach the role with patience, understanding and open-mindedness. Be prepared to do the work and remember it's a team, so listen to the judgment of your peers."

Taylor owns a farm at Westmere and is a former university climate studies lecturer.