Ready for his second term
The voter return was 36.01 per cent. It totalled 12,499 votes. Two newcouncillors elected, Susan O’Regan and Elwyn Andree-Wiltens.
Cambridge Community Board: Mike Pettit, Julie Epps, Philip Coles, Roger Gordon and John Bishop.
Te Awamutu Community Board: Richard Hurrell, Gary Derbyshire, Ange Holt, Colleen Wilson and Nigel Anderson. Final election results, October 13. More on the elections, page 5.
Jim Mylchreest is preparing for his second term as mayor of Waipa after notching up a convincing victory over his sole opponent in the local government elections.
Preliminary results showed Mylchreest recorded a total of 8277 votes against challenger Vern Wilson’s 3642, following polling day on Saturday.
Wilson will return to local government politics too, re-elected as a councillor in the Te Awamutu Ward.
Mylchreest said his re-election into the top job was a ‘‘fantastic result’’.
‘‘I think it’s really good recognition of the work the council’s done over the last three years. The community’s pretty settled with the direction we’re taking.’’
Mylchreest said the low voter turnout suggested there was ‘‘disinterest out there’’ in the elections.
‘‘But having said that, if people don’t know who to vote for and they don’t have any pressing issues, it’s probably better that they don’t just pick on alphabetical order.’’
Mylchreest said managing water resources and keeping pace with Waipa’s population and development growth stood as major challenges over the next three years.
He said whether or not the public would back a plan to form a council controlled organisation (CCO) to manage water resources would dominate the political scene.
Mylchreest said the community will have to decide the possible risk of losing autonomy over water resources in Waipa against the savings the CCO promises to deliver.
There were also major projects he wanted to see completed, such as the Cambridge swimming pool redevelopment as well as a hub and heritage centre at the new library in Te Awamutu.
Vern Wilson also believed water would be a headline issue for people and he was keen to hear what his constituents wanted.
Wilson said he was pleased with the way his campaign ran.
‘‘I got back on the council, so I’m happy because I enjoy it. If you’re true to yourself when you walk out, you can hold your head up.’’
Wilson sent his congratulations to Mylchreest but did not rule out the possibility of challenging again for the mayoralty in three years’ time.