Bowater latest NCC councillor to step aside
Nelson city councillor Yvonne Bowater has joined the growing list of elected members not standing for reelection this year, and says it’s concerning that five of the six quitting are women.
The first-term councillor cited ‘‘changing family circumstances’’ as the reason why she was unable to commit to a further three-year term.
‘‘If I didn’t have the family situation that I had, things would be different. I just know that I can’t give it 100%, so I have made the conscious decision to step down,’’ Bowater said.
‘‘You need to be absolutely committed to be there.’’
Bowater joins mayor Rachel
Reese, deputy mayor Judene
Edgar and councillors Kate
Fulton, Gaile Noonan and Brian
McGurk in throwing in the towel this election.
Bowater said Nelson was going to be losing 60 years of local government knowledge and experience as a result.
She said it was ‘‘concerning’’ that five of the six members not restanding were women.
‘‘All of us individuals have been brought together by the community to represent them. For me, it’s important that there is diversity around the table.’’
Despite sitting in on council meetings for a year before being elected, council was very different in practice, she said.
Covid had not helped and had changed how the Nelson City Council operated, she added.
‘‘We haven’t been able to see the landscape because we’ve been very reactive, rather than being proactive and looking ahead to what Nelson needs.’’
For those thinking of standing, Bowater advised that they needed to be aware that it was a significant commitment in terms of time and energy, and that it was important to get out and listen to the concerns of community and businesses.
Bowater said that she’d enjoyed the connections created with community organisations and businesses, and that by working together council could ‘‘achieve so much more’’.