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803 days ago

Buller council interest intense

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

Interest in the future of Westport and the Buller District is intense, with the West Coast Regional Council leading the country for candidates contesting any one seat in the October local body elections.

As nominations drew to a close it looked as though no-one would put their name forward for two seats in Buller.

However, a flood of last minute nominations saw 11 put up a hand and data released by Policy.nz, using their candidate comparison tool, shows the Buller seat has attracted the highest candidate interest for any single council ward in the country.

In Buller, the current sitting councillors Laura Coll-McLaughlin and John Hill are both stepping down after just three years.

Coll-McLaughlin, the youngest West Coast Regional councillor and one of just two women on the council, cited professional and family commitments but has not ruled out standing again in future.

Hill cited age and the need for younger members as a reason to step aside.

Both have previously mentioned the workload, which is expected to intensify in the next three years.

A raft of legislative reform affecting local government is ongoing, with more expected on top of significant infrastructure projects.

The regional council is also charged with ushering through the Te Tai o Poutini Plan (TTPP), a combined one district plan to replace the existing Buller, Grey and Westland district plans.

Both existing councillors sit on the TTPP Committee and the plan is now at the submissions stage.

The Buller reps also had to shoulder more work following the Westport floods.

The council oversaw the joint business proposal for a co-funded protection scheme of more than $50m and it awaits a Government decision.

If approved it would take several years to implement.

Regional council chairman Allan Birchfield attributed the good number of candidates to concerns about the future of Westport, and the outcome of the proposed Kawatiri Business Case for future flood resilience in particular.

Whoever won the seat would have their work cut out to ensure a fair deal.

"The stopbanks -- that would be the reason," Birchfield said.

"In their term the flood protection work will either go ahead or not."

According to Policy.nz the other most contested seats nationally are the Banks Peninsula ward for the Christchurch City Council (seven for one seat), Christchurch's Riccarton Ward (seven for one seat), and Wellington's Paekawakawa/Southern general ward with 10 candidates for two seats (five candidates per seat).

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This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.

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As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!

John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.

Share your question below now ⬇️

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From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.

What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?

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When should the tree go up? 🎄
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What's your favourite tomato recipe?

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Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.

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