Strong, female voices elected
The rural wards of the Waipa District Council have made a significant statement in the election of two strong female voices to represent them.
Significantly the Kakepuku Ward has seen the rejection of the experienced candidates at local government level for mother of five, Susan O’Regan (411 votes).
Three-term Cambridge Community Board member Elwyn Andree-Wiltens (474) contested the Maungatautari Ward seat left vacant by long serving Grahame Webber and secured the seat by 144 votes over her rival Les Bennett.
Both women say they want to ensure there is a strong rural voice at the council table.
They’re looking forward to working alongside the two other rural councillors, Clare St Pierre (1242) and Bruce Thomas (1117) who were both returned for Pirongia.
‘‘The issues over rates and how much rural constituents are charged is already a done deal but I will be working to ensure they are spent fairly,’’ O’Regan said.
Te result is reflective of what the rural community wanted which was someone currently in the farming industry and also it was seen as a nod to a younger voice with a fresh face.
The Cambridge Ward remained stable with the reelection of Liz Stolwyk (2844), Sue Milner (2731) and Judy Bannon (2385).
Deputy mayor Grahame Webber’s gamble to swap seats from the rural constituency from Maungatautari into the vacant position in Cambridge paid off proving his popularity being the highest polling candidate (2940) for both council and community boards.
Standing for the mayoralty had no impact on Te Awamutu Ward councillor Vern Wilson.
He retained his position as the people’s choice on council returning 2545 votes.
The three remaining seats on council remain unchanged with Hazel Barnes (2541), Andrew Brown (2263) and Marcus Gower (2077) being returned for another term.
Two new faces will sit on Community Boards with Cambridge i-site CEO Roger Gordon is added to the mix and Nigel Anderson received the nod for the Kakepuku subdivision.
Experienced councillor John Bishop who lost out on election day for the Maungatautari council seat picked up the community board seat.