Love lures councillor to make Invercargill move
It appears even in death, Maggie Lawton gets what she wants for her daughter.
Lawton, 67, who was the highest polling Otago regional councillor in the Dunstan Ward at the 2016 elections, died in 2017 after a short battle with cancer. It was her dying wish that her daughter Ella – who was a second-term Queenstown Lakes District councillor at the time – take her place on the regional council.
Maggie got her wish and Ella secured the seat after winning a byelection by 2000 votes over Central Otago farmer and former regional councillor Gary Kelliher. Kelliher lost his place on the council in 2016 to Michael Laws by five votes.
Before Maggie died she was also pulling strings behind the scenes helping her daughter find love. And it worked.
Love is luring Ella south where she will join her partner, Nathan Surendran.
‘‘I met Nathan through Mum. They met down in Invercargill because mum was working there at the time. They were talking about issues around sustainability and local food systems, which both Nathan and I are interested in, and she said he should get in touch with [her] daughter. After Mum passed away . . . he did, and the rest is history.’’
The 37-year-old said she would be in Wanaka until the elections in October, then move to Invercargill.
‘‘It was a tough decision because I certainly wasn’t intending to leave. I really intended to be here for the long haul.’’
People had suggested she stand ‘‘out of region’’, but she felt Queenstown Lakes needed a councillor living in the region who knew the issues, she said.
‘‘I’m committed to ensuring the projects I’ve worked on have solid foundations. I am still very much available in the community.’’
Big issues she would leave behind included sedimentation entering waterways, particularly from urban development, improving Arrowtown’s air quality, and improving water quality.
Once in Invercargill, she did not intend to put her name forward for any councils, she said. ‘‘I have had three elections in the last eight years. I am alright about not having any elections in October.’’
She had spent the past year building a tiny house and planned to take that to Invercargill where she and her partner, who works at the Southern Institute of Technology and owns a juice bar, had bought land and intended to build.
‘‘Southland is a very homely kind of town. It’s got real southern hospitality and I’m not convinced the weather is bad as people say.
‘‘I can go to Invercargill and spend $136,000 on a 5-acre block which you can’t do here.
‘‘I absolutely adore Wanaka and I keep bursting into tears when I talk to friends about [leaving], but I am really excited.
‘‘It’s got to happen now or it will never happen.’’