Five new faces at council table
Changes and new directions for mayor Trewavas
Taupō District mayor David Trewavas is happy to be back in the hot seat for a fourth term so he can see major projects through to completion.
It has been a busy three years for the council as it works through a list of major civic projects, including digging up and redesigning the Taupō town centre.
The district's largest town has gone through an unprecedented period of development over the past three years and Trewavas says he is keen to see some of those major developments through.
Other projects include a new airport terminal, a new building to house a raft of social agencies in the town, and the development of large areas of council-owned land into new residential areas at the southern end of Taupō township.
Council staff have also been spread far and wide after the old council building was found to have asbestos issues and torn down. A new building is being constructed and will be leased back to the council.
Trewavas was returned for a fourth term, with a preliminary result of 5215 votes, after 90 per cent had been counted.
“It's an honour to be selected to once again represent our beautiful district,” he says.
“I'm looking forward to carrying on all the great work that we have under way and to keep working to make this a fantastic place to live for all our community.”
Trewavas says there is positive signs ahead for the region's main industries such as forestry, farming and energy. Even the important tourism industry is bouncing back strongly from Covid-19.
The other two mayoral candidates, Christine Rankin and Sean Wakelin, achieved 3782 and 926 votes respectively in the interim results.
We will just see who is the best fit for the job. Christine has been a good deputy but we will assign that in the coming weeks, probably November. Mayor David Trewavas
Rankin also challenged for the mayoralty three years ago and was given the job of deputy mayor in the last term.
While it has been a friendly enough rivalry Trewavas says he will not be making a decision on the deputy until he has met the new team of councillors, which includes five new faces.
“We will just see who is the best fit for the job. Christine has been a good deputy but we will assign that in the coming weeks, probably November.”
The seven successful candidates for the Taupō ward are: Christine Rankin, Yvonne Westerman, Kevin Taylor, Anna Park, John Williamson, Rachel Shepherd and Duncan Campbell.
The successful candidate for the Tūrangi-Tongariro ward is Sandra Greenslade.
In the new Te Papamā rearea Mā ori ward, Karam Fletcher and Danny Aperahama Loughlin are the successful candidates.
Kylie Leonard for the Taupō East Rural ward and Kirsty Trueman for the Mangakino-Pouakani ward were both re-elected unopposed. The newcomers are Shepherd, Campbell, Greenslade, Fletcher and Aperahama.
All of the sitting councillors who decided to run again were re-elected.
Trewavaas says the most challenging issue of the past three years was the traffic reconfiguration in the town centre, which had not been popular with all permanent residents.
The four-lane road through town has been reduced to two lanes, with through traffic redirected down Spa Rd and Titiraupenga St, creating a more pedestrian and shopperfriendly environment and linking the CBD with the lakefront. “I acknowledge there is a bit of pain in the change but I'm sure the final outcome will be good for everyone.”
Voter turn-out was very low compared with previous years. Just 43.79 per cent of eligible voters in the Taupō District returned their voting papers, compared to 52.16 per cent in 2019, 50.15 per cent in 2016 and 48.48 per cent in 2013.