Four of five mayors to seek re-election
Wairoa’s Craig Little sticks to plan of serving just three terms
I can still feel the knots in my stomach that formed over three issues in particular . . . Alex Walker
Four of the five mayors in the wider Hawke’s Bay area will be seeking re-election at the triennial local elections, which are less than nine months away.
Sandra Hazlehurst (Hastings District), Alex Walker (Central Hawke’s Bay) and Tracey Collis (Tararua) have all confirmed their plans with Hawke’s Bay Today this week, while Napier’s Kirsten Wise confirmed her plans last October.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little, the only man among the five mayors and five deputy mayors in the Hawke’s Bay Today circulation area since 2019, had reaffirmed his plan to stand aside, having always intended to serve no more than three terms.
Former Hastings City marketing president Hazlehurst was first elected to the Hastings District Council in 2010, and became deputy mayor entering her third term as the toppolling candidate in 2016.
She assumed the mayoralty less than nine months later, initially in June 2017 as acting mayor, substituting for elected council head Lawrence Yule when he stepped aside for a successful bid for the Tukituki seat in Parliament.
At a by-election in November that year, with the Havelock North water contamination crisis of 15 months earlier still the hottest topic in town, she became Hastings’ first elected female mayor, beating five other candidates with a majority of 2302 over runner-up and fellow councillor Simon Nixon.
She was re-elected in the 2019 local elections with a margin of 3068 over fellow councillor and only opponent Damon Harvey.
Walker has been Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor also since 2016, re-elected in 2019 with almost 94 per cent of the vote with just one challenger, while Collis, first elected a Tararua councillor, became mayor replacing retiring Roly Ellis just three years later, and against two challengers at the last election was returned with almost 90 per cent of the vote.
It’s been imposing times for mayors and council, shouldering some of the biggest workloads in New Zealand local government history, with Collis observing that even her councillors are now facing their roles as almost a full-time job, with barely a week without meetings and mountains of reading in-between.
Hazlehurst is pleased with what her current council has achieved, its top priorities having been to improve drinking water supply, provide more homes for “our people”, to create a vibrant city centre and to protect the environment of the city.
“We have delivered safe drinking water to seven small communities, two town centres and Hastings city plus the construction of two new water storage facilities at a cost of $82 million,” she said.
“All of our investment in safe drinking water infrastructure will be completed by the end of this year.”
She said through the council’s Hastings Housing Plan, along with Government, iwi and industry partners, 450 homes were being built, with another 1000 “in the pipeline.”
She said the transformation of the Hastings CBD into a vibrant place for people to live in, work in and enjoy is evolving day by day, and revitalisation is a committed, collaborative partnership between the council and the private sector.
Walker said it hadn’t crossed her mind not to seek re-election, and added: “I thrive on the challenge, and it is a privilege.”
Recalling her big step up in 2016, she said: “I can still feel the knots in my stomach that formed over three issues in particular — the closure of the Waipawa Pool, the failure of the ‘new’ wastewater treatment upgrades in Waipukurau and Waipawa, and the closure of the earthquake-prone Waipukurau Library.
“But it was vital to me that we were open and honest with the community about what we were dealing with, and give them the confidence that we could come through the challenges and resolve them properly – no more band-aids allowed,” she said.
Collis wants to be there to see the fruit of the council’s endeavours, which included responding to the closure of the Manawatu Gorge, and ensuring it has done this effectively, with the replacement route now due for completion in 2024.
The issue had been present throughout her six-year tenure, along with water issues, including restrictions, and a unique council position of managing seven drinking water and wastewater plants.
Candidacy and election to local councils is open to ratepayers and residents aged 18 or older by the close of the September 16-October 8 polls.
Nominations will open on July 15 and will close on August 12.