FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions & Views

You can find out more about my professional background here:

What Am I Campaigning On?

How can we be good ancestors?

This is the primary question that drives my thoughts and approach to leading and serving the community. It forms the foundation of all decisions that Council makes for the future of our tamariki (children) and community.

Why should you vote for me?

• When I look at my point of difference from other candidates, it is about:

• a strong business background

• confidence that my skills can add value to Council’s decision making

• adopting a strong environmental approach towards sustainability in all aspects for the community

• commitment to provide an open, transformative and democratic leadership style.

I plan to demonstrate courageous leadership. Someone who is not afraid to say no when the numbers don’t stack up, or say yes to ‘feel good projects’ if we can’t afford it. I have the determination to see projects through to completion and the confidence to admit a re-direction if necessary. I will do my best to lead the community and council into making best practise decisions, supported by good data insights and intelligence.  I’ll ensure we have an aligned vision for the future and road map of how to get there.

So, I won’t be making promises about infrastructure, fixing foot paths, dog control and/or rates. Yes these things are important to the community but are ‘business as usual’ services. I will do my best to mitigate rate rises, improve infrastructure and council services across the District, but I am more interested in shaping our community’s future and moving us forward sustainably.

Does it matter that I haven’t served time on the Council before becoming Mayor?

I say no. Since I announced my intention to run for Mayor in February 2019 I have attended 41/51 council and committee meetings with another 10 to come in the next few months leading up to the election. The council proper meet every 7 weeks, as do the sub committees so I have in effect attended more meetings than councillors as not all councillors are on all committees.

Meetings I have attended include:

• Ordinary and Extraordinary council meetings

• Projects and Services meetings

• Audit and Risk meetings

• Policy and Hearings meetings

• Rangataiki, Murupara, Tāneatua-Waimana and Whakatāne-Ōhope Community board meetings

• Sister City, Sports, Creative Arts and Special Funding Allocation meetings

• EBOP Joint Mayors and Regional Council meetings

• EBOP Rangataiki River Forum

I have and will continue to do my homework and are confident that I am well informed on past, present and future plans for the district. When you blend this with my business, governance and corporate leadership background, I feel well prepared for the role of Mayor, Whakatāne District. Hence my promotional tagline, being READY – WILLING – ABLE!

Snapshot - what are my views on? (not in priority order)

I should preface the following with despite attending many council meetings, members of the public are excluded (for commercial sensitivity and privacy reasons), from economic development discussions which include new initiatives and infrastructure. The below are my views and vision of how I see the Whakatāne District in the future.

Infrastructure

Three Waters (Storm, Waste, Drinking) – I am not an environmental engineer or water specialist but I do know that I’d rather spend good money in the short term future proofing our 3 Waters systems rather than having a short or medium term fix. This is a priority ahead of other enhancement projects in the region

Roading and NZTA – the councils’ relationship with NZTA for district roading projects is crucial. I will be the best informed I can be about how this all works and ensure our district is not left behind ahead of wider regional roading commitments

Whakatāne 2nd Bridge – Whakatāne does need a second bridge, especially for safety and access should the current bridge not be fit for purpose or out of commission after an adversity. I understand that when you have more than 18,000 traffic movements a year, then a second bridge is warranted. Whakatāne has 20,000 movements so it’s time to evaluate when and where this occurs. In the least we need to get the bridge roundabout situation sorted as n-one seems to know why this is still as it is

Pedestrian and cycle bridge – while not an infrastructure priority, I believe that we need to connect the town to Coastlands with a foot and cycle bridge, wide enough for a small car and/or two golf carts etc to cross. This initiative should happen sooner rather than later to give more confidence to potential hotel and retirement lifestyle village investors that we are serious about growing the district. It is also a ‘good quick win’ for locals who love the river environment and who want to share walking and cycling activities with their families by crossing to the beach 

Marina and Boat Harbour – The marina development proposal has been around for years but not quite made it to priority status. With two major ‘award winning’ boat builders in the District who have further plans for expansion, more employment can be created so to maximise the opportunity and assist, we should progress this development sooner rather than later. Note: it was reported in Whakatane Beacon 27/8/19 that the Boat Harbour, in partnership with Ngati Awa has been approved. Eureka!

Equity of Community Services – my observations after attending numerous meetings is that there doesn’t appear to be equity of services between the rural areas of the District and the Whakatāne-Ōhope ward. I appreciate that ratepayer numbers sometimes dictate this, but like a garden, if you only tend the flowers and not the weeds, then the over-all look and feel of the garden is affected. We need and can do better!

Awatarariki Managed Retreat (Matata) – this has been a blinkin mess and some of the frustration and angst could have been avoided had the council not rushed the decision that folks could go back into their/or rebuild their homes. Its’ 12 years on and in my opinion, the ‘high risk’ has already been mitigated with the debris flow event already occurring. While the ‘managed retreat option’ suits some households, I believe that if the owners of properties who wish to stay, and who can get insurance would like to, then they should be allowed the choice. In addition, I don’t believe the $15million fund is enough to replace like with like and expect more ratepayer funds will be needed should all eventually choose to leave Awatarariki

Water Bottling Plants – I have concerns about the proposed Otakiri and Murupara Water Bottling Plants and believe that ownership if in partnership with overseas interests, should be determined by its contribution to the community and environmental well-being. These concerns are:

1. I’m not convinced that there will be anything like the number of jobs quoted that would be provided

2. I need to know more about the quality and volume of the water take from the aquifers although to appreciate the volume numbers they are talking about are significantly less than farming and horticulture irrigator take

3. The question of who owns the water and that we need to have an export water bottling royalty charge. It is my belief that under Te Tiriti ō Waitangi - Article 2, that water (as a taonga) belongs to Māori. Government needs to step up and have the ‘hard discussion’ about water ownership, rights, take and value. Water is our ‘gold’ and we can share this with the world but commercial users need to pay for it!

Upgrade Whakatāne War Memorial Hall – while the earthquake assessment risk for the facility is low-medium for strengthening and not needing to be attended to until 2026, the fact that the hall is the emergency centre in case of major civil defence disaster event, we need to do this sooner rather than later. However, we should take into consideration the future needs of the facility and try to incorporate when strengthening what other infrastructure we can have included in the budget

Retirement and Lifestyle accommodation options – again retirement and lifestyle village options have been on the cards for years. We need to be more proactive in developing a range of options from Tiny Home Villages to Lifestyle and Retirement home options. I’d like to see us investigate perhaps Rugby Park being centred between Kopeopeo and town as a Lifestyle village, and Tiny Home Villages adjoining Whakatāne Holiday Park and in Edgecumbe. Joining town and Coastlands would make Coastlands a more attractive retirement lifestyle option for investors

Sports Precinct –for a District our size and number of ratepayers we have a large number of under-utilised sports facilities. I’d like to see us review our sports numbers future growth and potentially develop a new purpose multi-sport precinct, possibly at Awakeri or Edgecumbe

New Tourism Initiatives

Boutique Hotel – this is a classic example of egg and chicken. Do we need to be proactive and ‘build it and they will come’ or do we wait hoping people will come? I suggest we look for potential hotel developers and investors and adopt a proactive approach. The construction phase will create jobs, the operation of a hotel will create more jobs, and with effective marketing, we’ll attract new visitors to the region. If the hotel has conference facilities that can cater for 100-150 delegates, we’ll attract new business/conference visitors that will complement our existing coastal and outdoor recreational type of visitor thus growing visitor numbers. More visitors, more demand for retail and hospitality services.

EPIC, Retail and CBD – Whakatāne needs a District wide digital marketing strategy to maximise promoting what a great CBD and wider district retail and commercial offering we have. I propose promoting Whakatāne as a New Zealand first BOT – Boutique Online Town. Let’s be the first District in New Zealand that actively educates its business community about collective digital marketing and promotes online with a raft of digital resources what a great place it is to live and do business in!

Te Urewera & Natures Road – there are some exciting new sustainable initiatives that Tūhoe have going forward. I love the idea of the Sustainable/Nature Road or Highway and see that this could be an incredible promotional marketing campaign like no other. Te Urewera as a Great Walk with new infrastructure, accommodation and Ngā Papakāinga (Maori living villages), combined with other District tourism initiatives is something I’m keen to help where I can

Whirinaki Te Pua-A-Tāne Conservation Park – There are no multi-day guided walks with private accommodation in the North Island like Milford Sound or Abel Tasman Great Walks. Whirinaki Te Pua-A-Tāne Conservation Park has the potential to be our back door ‘game changer’ in completing the tourism triangle destinations of Rotorua, Whakatāne and Murupara, and position Murupara as the “Te Anau” of the North Island. I strongly support and encourage iwi and/or private investors to develop several multi-day guided cultural and nature walks in the region

Cycle Trails and Mountain Bike Park – Mountain Biking is the new ‘golf for families’. Everyone can participate, at different levels and it has great health and social benefits. I am in favour of expanding developing our cycle trails and Mountain Bike Park but believe our infrastructure has priority over this at the moment

Town Regeneration Plan - I am in favour in taking advantage of current Provincial Growth Funding (PGF) but it needs careful analysis of what and when we can afford things, in terms of revitalising the central business district and river front area can be done. Having the partner support of Ngāti Awa is a good step forward and we need to recruit more private sector investment if we are to realise all of the plans mooted in the application

New Arts Precinct – we have a vibrant and diverse creative arts community but more can be done. In consultation with the sector I propose at looking at a CBD arts precinct vision where we can historically and culturally represent our people and their stories along the waterfront and CBD area. One idea suggested to me has been to have our European and Pou (talking poles project) along the river front representing each of our seven iwi and their digital story. I’m keen to investigate this further and hope that it has been inclusive as part of the Town Regeneration Plan

Waste Management

Chlorination - I was fortunate to grow up in Kawerau with safe fresh drinking water and remember taking floride tablets every morning which seems quite amusing now. We all deserve safe drinking water but with the rise in population, new germs and viruses, combined with ageing pipes and declining water treatment infrastructure, chlorine is the best cost effective option for the time being. Murupara being the current exception where their water supply is untreated, unless government intervention mandates it

Climate Change - I’m not a scientist but do believe we need to be doing more to mitigate climate change on a personal and industry level. In our District, 63% of climate change emissions is attributed to the agricultural sectors. While local farmers are doing what they can, the reality is that until central government acts with more climate change leadership, a lot of what we can do individually might seem insignificant. However, a great ship can be sunk with a single small leak so all of us doing our part can make a difference. In my discussions with locals there is confusion about sustainability, climate change, carbon emissions, shifting weather patterns etc. I’ll be ensuring that between District and Regional Councils, a community awareness and education programme is implemented so that more of us, can do more

Zero Landfill Waste 75% Goal 2030 - the recent changes in our plastic recycling status has been confusing for many in the community and in some cases as they can’t determine what is a number 1 or 2 plastic, has encouraged people to go back to putting all their waste in one bin. I’ve always been committed to our environmental outputs and have visited Innovative Waste Kaikōura and Raglan Recycling Centres to look at what they do in terms of recycling, re-purposing and reusing. Both these organisations divert 75% of potential landfill waste and I’d be keen to review our own practices to see how we can better align our services as a one stop shop. We currently have the Transfer Station, CReW (Community Resources Whakatane), Waste Zero Whakatane, Waste Not Want Not, a Time and Curtain Bank. These are some great initiatives but are disconnected that easily become a Circular System. I’ll be seeking improvement to our community education of not only waste management, but for us to put a line in the sand and aim for 75% by 2030 or sooner

Communication

Partnership with Iwi - the Town Regeneration Plan and Boat Harbour Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) application is a great example of partnership with Ngāti Awa. In our District we have seven iwi, all of whom have economic development initiatives of their own, be it tourism, farming or aqua-culture. The future of our community is intrinsically linked with iwi and I will advocate for more inclusive and supportive relationships to enable more employment and improved social outcomes

Staff to Community - a huge part of the Councils reputation is reliant on the relationship and interactions staff have with the public, with complaints about how the message was delivered being more of a frustration than the action it relates to. As a communicator, I will review not only the systems and processes we have in place, but ensure that council staff have the right representative ‘telling the story’, especially in situations where there is perceived frustration and conflict. The staff out in the community are our representatives and we need to give them the appropriate tools and training

Council to Community - So often you hear complaints of the public not being informed on projects or advised after the decision is made and asked what their opinion is then - when there is no opportunity to effect any change. A simple way of keeping the public informed of on-going community projects is to have monthly advertised updates in local media and on the council website. For example a bullet point list with a simple progress statement and/or a graphic visual board in the affected spot to remind the community of what is happening. I’m confident communication with the wider community can be greatly improved and which adds greater transparency to projects.

Council to Community Boards - During my seven months of attending a variety of council meetings, it is very clear there is frustration from the four community boards about the poor consultation and communication from council to the boards. Similar to the wider community, the decisions are made about issues/projects in their ward with no real ‘right of appeal’. This is another easy fix and I suggest the CEO and Mayor meets with the Chairs’ of the Boards quarterly to ensure there is two way communication and feedback happening.

Other

Freedom Camping - I am opposed to enabling Freedom Camping in our District for vehicles that do-not have their own self-contained waste disposal systems. I find it ridiculous that council own a Holiday Park 200m from a Freedom Camping designated site where potential income is being compromised. There is an excellent new system called KiwiCamp using a pre-paid KiwiCash key which give entry into purpose built toilet and shower facilities. Whakatāne could easily implement these across the district, keeping the independent campers monitored and paying as they go. It would also be a great system to assist the Homeless Population as they could be issued with KiwiCash cards too.

Kawerau-Whakatāne-Opotiki Amalgamation - With our small populations, it seems inevitable to me that an amalgamation should occur. Whakatāne and Kawerau for government recording i.e. Regional Tourism Estimates, GDP, Commercial Accommodation statistics etc. are already combined and not able to be seperated out. I would be in favour of this discussion happening at a later date.