Potential candidates should hurry

Potential candidates are being urged not to leave lodging their nominations to stand for Waikato Regional Council until the last minute or they could miss out.

There is just a few days left for people wanting to get involved in the issues affecting Waikato’s communities, its environment and the economy to get their nominations in to council.

‘‘Nominations close at noon on Friday, August 16, but candidates should not leave it until the last minute to get their completed forms to us,’’ said the council’s electoral officer, Maureen Poole.

‘‘If the papers don’t reach us early enough and there’s a mistake or issue with them, they risk missing out.

‘‘On the day applications close, the public are welcome to see the candidate names drawn from a hat to decide the order in which they will be listed on the voting papers,’’ she said.

The voting papers will be posted to voters between September 20 and 25 and must be sent back by midday on election day, October 12.

Meanwhile, to help candidates and voters, a preelection report has just been released by the council to satisfy new Government requirements to inform discussion in the lead up to local body elections.

The report has information on Waikato’s people, economy and environment and is available on the council’s website – waikatoregion.govt.nz/elections.

The report also shows where council’s funding will come from for 2013/14 and where it will spend funds over the next year.

Details of the regional council’s major projects for the 2013-16 council term have been outlined in the report.

For more information on standing as a candidate, visit waikatoregion.govt.nz or contact Maureen Poole at maureen.poole@waikatoregion.govt.nz or freephone 0800 800 401.