Activist seeking seat on council to effect change from within
Tasman District Council Moutere-Waimea Ward candidate Julie Nevin wants resilience and sustainability to be at the forefront of local body decision-making.
‘‘There’s a movement among the communities that I’m part of . . . to ask every sector to get to carbon neutral, to stop the way that we are damaging our world,’’ she said.
‘‘It seems like it’s something that needs to be in every decision that council makes. TDC has had that perspective in the room up to a point, and I’d just like to progress that.’’
Nevin is part of Zero Carbon Nelson Tasman and a founding member of Extinction Rebellion Nelson, part of an international socio-political movement that uses non-violent direct action to persuade governments to act on climate change.
‘‘[Standing for council] feels like the next piece of the puzzle, if you like, trying to build that same momentum for change within local government in this region.’’
She said she had been encouraged to stand for a place around the council table.
‘‘It feels vulnerable to put yourself in the public eye, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to commit to what could be a confrontation space for three years. [However], it feels to me like I need to.’’
Nevin gained qualifications in psychology and education before working as a primary school teacher ‘‘on and off’’ for about 10 years. ‘‘For the last five years, I’ve been a mum at home, and while I did that, I went to Massey University and I’ve been studying environmental studies with a bit of social policy in there, and I had thought of going into writing sustainable policy.’’
Instead, she said, she hoped to put her expertise to work helping the council ‘‘futureproof’’ its decisions about land use, housing, transport and infrastructure.
Nevin said she wanted to work with Tasman district communities to ‘‘face our environmental challenges and tailormake’’ solutions. ‘‘I’d like to see, for example, exploration of a business case into a councilowned or community-owned renewable energy scheme.’’
On the issue of transport, Nevin said she wanted fewer cars on the roads. ‘‘I do think is that it’s time for Tasman to rethink how it does its transport.’’
Nevin moved from Nelson to Wakefield several months ago, ‘‘which is why I’m basing my campaign around getting to know the community’’.
‘‘I’m looking to engage the community in conversation . . . and start discussions online about particular issues – about forestry, about agriculture, about how public transport might look going forward.
‘‘There are so many issues that council has a massive impact on that changes our environmental footprint and our wellbeing, and I think it’s really important to take the community voice in.’’