North Canterbury struggles to find candidates

Two North Canterbury councils are struggling to attract candidates for this year’s local government elections. But Kaiko¯ ura is bucking the trend.

The stage is set for a mayoral race in Kaiko¯ ura, with two candidates lining up to challenge incumbent mayor Craig Mackle but, with just a week to go, electoral officers in Hurunui and Waimakariri are scratching their heads at the lack of nominations for this year’s local government elections.

Former Kaiko¯ ura mayor Kevin Heays wants his old job back, while former councillor Ted Howard has announced his run against Mackle.

Mackle said Kaiko¯ura was ‘‘a very diverse community’’ and he looked forward to the campaign. ‘‘If I’ve done a good job, I’ll soon find out.’’

Hurunui District Council deputy electoral officer Naomi Woodham said there had been some issues with loading candidates on the electionz.com website, but there had yet to be a rush of nominations: ‘‘Democracy is so important and I know people are tired, but your district needs you – Hurunui needs you.’’

She expected nominations over the next week from some sitting councillors before deadline, but there did not appear to be ‘‘a lot of interest or engagement’’. Covid fatigue may be a factor, she said. ‘‘I did think with issues like the RMA (Resource Management Act) and Three Waters reforms that there might be a bit of interest, because it’s really important that local people speak up . . . But maybe people are tired. It’s been a hard few years.’’

If candidates were at home with Covid they could submit forms online, as long as they were signed by two eligible nominees.

Waimakariri District Council deputy electoral officer Sarah Nichols suspected last week’s wet weather may have turned people off. No nominations have so far been received from the growing towns of Woodend and Pegasus for either council or the Woodend-Sefton Community Board.

Just one nomination has been received for the Oxford-Ohoka Community Board, with six positions available.

‘‘It would be nice to see more diversity and to see more young people and more women,’’ Nichols said.

Nominations close at noon on Friday, August 12, while billboard signage was permitted to go up from today.