Buller mayor will not seek third term
Buller District Mayor Garry Howard will not seek re-election in 2019.
He leaves having guided his community through some of its toughest times, happy in his decision, but frustrated he couldn’t achieve more.
Howard said he had always planned on a two-term tenure and his departure hadn’t been a secret among councillors.
‘‘Realistically it’s a huge commitment of your life. It keeps . . . vitality by having change.
‘‘I didn’t want to grow old or tired of the position.’’
Third-generation Westport man Howard is possibly the only mayor in New Zealand who can claim both a father and grandfather as councillors before him.
The former real estate agent and property developer originally made a name for himself in 2000 as a spokesman for Rural Action New Zealand, which aimed to stop the flight of business and government offices from the West Coast.
Howard and other activists once stopped a coal train in its tracks to protest the withdrawal of business interests from the region.
When former mayor Pat McManus stood down for health reasons in 2013 Howard announced he was running for mayor. He wasn’t even a councillor.
He said despite the family tradition, he never wanted a political career but eventually changed his mind.
‘‘I was concerned. I wanted to see some economic development and really wanted to get some vibrancy within the community townships.’’
Howard stole a dramatic victory from main contender Margaret Montgomery, taking 2184 votes to her 1062.
He would preside over one of the Buller district’s most difficult periods.
Just a few months into his term falling international coal prices meant mining company Bathurst put a hold on operations.
A few months later, Solid Energy announced it was cutting nearly 200 jobs at the Stockton mine.
Then a week later, Oceana-Gold announced a downsizing of its Reefton gold mine, with 61 job losses.
In November that year, Air New Zealand announced it was cancelling its Westport flights even though Buller had just built a new airport specifically for the route.
In 2015, Stockton axed another 171 workers. Then Holcim Cement finally closed its plant, with more than 100 job losses. By the end of 2015, Buller had the highest population decline in the country at 2.1 per cent.
By the end of his first term, 1000 jobs had been lost in Buller.
Howard was undeterred He oversaw the Move to Westport campaign to lure people to Buller with cheap housing. It was a partial success, with two dozen houses selling mainly to retirees.
The Buller Economic Stimulus Fund of $300,000 was matched by the Government and saw 13 jobs created.
In 2016, Howard won the mayoralty unopposed.
During his reign, the Buller region and its infrastructure have been hammered by bad weather, the most profound events being Cyclone Ita in 2014 and Cyclone Gita earlier this year.
Howard is acutely aware of the setbacks the district has had during his tenure and the difficulty of fixing them.
‘‘I’m fairly anxious that I haven’t achieved as much as I would have liked to in the time. It certainly has not been easy. It has been a rough period going through big changes.
‘‘I’ve got a lot of work to do before I finish. I’m certainly going to work as hard as possible for the next 18 months to get some runs on the board.’’
Howard said one of the biggest hurdles had been red tape from central government.
‘‘The demands of regulatory compliance are very, very high. So you’ve got the same annual reports, long term plans and compliance to see through. It does bog you down.’’
Howard has not yet decided what he will do after his second term.