Ludlow keen to referee and blow the whistle
Logan Savory catches up with Darren Ludlow in the third of our series on Invercargill’s mayoral candidates.
It could be said that Darren Ludlow has sat in the shadow of Sir Tim Shadbolt for years. But it’s only for the 2019 local body elections that Ludlow has put his hand up to publicly battle Shadbolt for the city’s top job.
The pair are certainly no strangers given that, apart from one term out, Ludlow has held a seat on the Invercargill City Council since 1998.
He has been the highest polling councillor on four occasions and second once. He was even Shadbolt’s deputy up until 2017 when he resigned from the role.
Ludlow’s resignation came after most councillors signed a requisition to meet to appoint a new deputy.
Shadbolt felt Ludlow had withheld information from him and the mayor was backed by most councillors.
Ludlow disputed Shadbolt’s recall of events, but two years on he said he had learnt from the situation and also from his many years on the council.
‘‘I’ve calmed down and gotten over myself a lot . . . I now understand it’s actually about service, whether it’s as a councillor or mayor – you are there as a servant. It’s not about being an important person in a role.’’
Until now, he’s never had a crack at the mayoralty and he says a change in leadership style is needed to pull those around the council table in line and point the city in the right direction.
So why do we need a new mayor? ‘‘Times have changed. It is not about devaluing what Sir Tim has done,’’ Ludlow said.
‘‘But once upon a time we had one television and two channels. Now we are not even watching TV – we are looking at our phones.’’
According to Ludlow, there were areas the council had improved during the latest term, but he quickly added that the council had gone backwards in how it conducted itself, notably the split over the contentious WasteNet recycling contract.
‘‘You don’t want a council where you’ve got 13 people agreeing with each other . . . But when you disagree you want to do so by the rules and respectfully and we are not really having that. Things have got personal, heated and overly emotional.’’
Ludlow recalls a 1998 chat in which Shadbolt explained to him how the council should operate. The message was that the council was a game of rugby, the standing orders were the rules, and the mayor was the referee.
‘‘Nobody is blowing the whistle at the moment – that’s what we are missing. You’ve got councillors openly criticising, on the front page of your paper, staff members, which is technically a breach of the code of conduct,’’ Ludlow said.
Some might suggest the council’s role is core infrastructure while others say it should have a bigger role.
Simply doing the infrastructure minimum is not enough because people expect more, Ludlow said. ‘‘Council needs to be able to enable
things – to enable business, to enable events – in a considered way that benefits the community.’’
As for the closure of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery due to safety concerns, Ludlow stands by the move. He would like the redevelopment to happen on the same site.
Since 2004 Ludlow has been on the SMAG board, which for many years has discussed a museum redevelopment but with limited action. ‘‘If we had gone ahead and redeveloped when we originally proposed to we would probably still be open.’’
Rugby Park has morphed into another contentious facility in the city.
‘‘[The council] took on [ownership of] Rugby Park because we knew the value of an outdoor stadium to the city . . . We just need to figure out what we can do there, what needs to be done, and what we can afford to do.’’
When it comes to the Southland Indoor Leisure Centre Charitable Trust, which owns ILT Stadium Southland, Ludlow said a more strategic approach was needed.
Each year for the past two years the trust has asked the council to up its annual contribution from $400,000 to $700,000 to help cover long-term maintenance. The same request is expected to roll in again next year.
‘‘There needs to be a more strategic approach to region-wide facilities . . . It can’t be just the city that keeps bailing the place out.’’