Will he, won’t he? Ashburton mayor to decide future by March
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Neil Brown has yet to decide if he will stand for a third term as Ashburton mayor.
A year out from the next local body elections, none of the elected members have confirmed their names will be on the ballot.
The next local body elections will be held on October 11, 2025, with candidate nominations opening on July 4 and closing on August 1.
Brown, who celebrated 20 years of service to the Ashburton District Council this week, said he is yet to decide on standing for a third term, but has a timeframe in mind.
“I haven’t made a decision yet.
“I will probably mull it over during the Christmas break and make a decision by early March.”
Making an announcement a few months before nominations open will help other potential candidates with their planning and decision whether to run, he said.
Only two of the other elected members indicated it was likely they would stand again, but they stopped short of confirming it.
Deputy mayor Liz McMillan said she has been thinking about it and “there is a high chance I’ll stand again”.
“A year is a long time and you never know what can change.”
Councillor Russell Ellis, in his third term on the council, said he was “90% sure I’ll be standing”.
With the effects of long Covid finally fading, councillor Leen Braam said he is bouncing back, and “there is a lot of things to do before making any decision” to stand again.
Councillor Lynette Lovett said she planned to make a decision early next year on whether to run for a fourth term.
It is the same for second-term councillor Carolyn Cameron and the four first-term councillors.
Rob Mackle said he is focused on the current tasks at hand at the council and joined Tony Todd, Richard Wilson, and Phill Hooper in saying it was something they hadn’t seriously thought about yet.
The elected members aren’t the only ones tossing up their future next year, with chief executive Hamish Riach coming to the end of his contract in September 2025.
Riach said it was too far away to consider if he'll reapply.
“I’ve been focused on the work at hand at the moment.”
Riach became the chief executive in September 2018, after 17 years at the helm of the Crusaders super rugby franchise.
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
⚠️ 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 ❤️
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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61.7% Summer
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36.6% Winter
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1.7% Other - I'll share below
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