Rakaia residents grill candidates on representation
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The Rakaia community wanted to know if candidates would turn up for them if elected.
That question was posed at the Rakaia Community Association’s meet the candidates session where only three of the six invited candidates turned up to answer it.
“It was a little disappointing that all the candidates couldn’t turn up,” association chairman Neil Pluck said.
Incumbent mayor Neil Brown, councillor Lynette Lovett, and newcomer Richard Wilson attended.
Eastern Ward candidates Rob Mackle and Keith Townshend were both unable to attend for personnel reasons, while mayoral candidate Jeff Swindley declined as he was holding his own self-titled “job interview sessions” in Ashburton.
Pluck was disappointed Swindley “didn’t bother when it was a good opportunity for the people of Rakaia to see him and ask him the same curly questions the other candidates were asked”.
Swindley was contacted for comment.
The trio that did turn up faced a grilling over some local issues and what they will do to avoid Rakaia “being the forgotten corner of the district”.
Lovett and Wilson spoke of making themselves available to be advocates for their communities, the Eastern Ward, and the district as a whole.
“You won’t need to worry about me forgetting about Rakaia just because I live in Hinds,” Wilson said.
Lovett, seeking a third term, said she actively tries to attend community meetings to hear concerns and issues to take back to the council.
Brown said he aims to lead the council as a team with all the councillors “united and working together on one page for the prosperity of the district”.
* Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.4% Summer
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36.2% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
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