Local Focus: Hadleigh Reid's election message from Mercy Ship in Africa

Whanganui District Councillor Hadleigh Reid is running for a second term on the Whanganui District Council.

The only problem is he's nowhere near Whanganui, or New Zealand.

Reid is in Dakar, Senegal where he is helping as a dentist on the Mercy Ships, providing dental care to some of the world' poorest people.

But convincing Whanganui voters to give him a second term is difficult, so he sent his election message via phone, to Local Focus, in which he outlined his policies.

Reid is eager to see the council utilise the Provincial Growth Fund to further boost the economy and improve Whanganui.

"I think the biggest challenge facing our region today is our suddenly growing population, the current housing squeeze is making it very difficult for some," he said.

"Council have re-zoned and is in the process of re-zoning more land for residential development, it won't happen overnight but it will happen."

Reid is also in favour of petitioning central government for social housing.

"The first thing I would do if I get back into council is make a submission to our climate change discussion document and attend plenty of meetings."

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