Top Issues

​I am committed to the Council's vision of liveable, thriving and connected communities and will continue to work to:

• Advance aspirations expressed by local communities in your own local plans.

• Bring general rates rises down from 4.25% to 3% and less, as already budgeted, starting next year (2026).

• Manage core services efficiently including roading (we have the 7th longest local network in NZ) and other infrastructure.

• Manage the implementation of upcoming Government reform in resource management.

• Continue to work to ensure the communities and people I represent are informed and can engage meaningfully with the Council when it's important to you.

• Develop genuine, transparent dialogue to ensure that Council decisions are democratically driven.

 

Top ongoing issues for this Council continue to include:​

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1. Infrastructure 
   Our quality of life relies on safe, reliable infrastructure – which in turn relies on good policy, standards, and funding. Well-maintained and well-designed roading is essential for rural industry and – together with cycleways/pathways - for village connectivity. Reliability and safety is important as Waikato District funnels all traffic between Auckland and the rest of the country and the Tamahere-Woodlands Ward is criss-crossed by State Highways (1, 1B, 1C, 21, 26) and local feeder roads. With the completion of the Waikato Expressway, the transfer of SH1B into Council control needs to be managed well, so the work undertaken by NZTA and KiwiRail to re-open the SH1B Telephone Rd rail crossing has been an essential step. The transition of drinking water and wastewater assets into a new Council Controlled Organisation (CCO), Iawai - Flowing Waters, jointly-owned with Hamilton City Council, will require a strong focus up to and beyond the start of operations on 1 July 2026. Waikato District Council has a relatively small number of ratepayers (about 33,000) and many small water and wastewater schemes (including those at Matangi and Tauwhare Pa). The new company opens opportunities for economies of scale but we still need sufficient local oversight to ensure local needs are properly prioritised. We must ensure the needs of our small communities are not lost in the transition.
    

2. Economic development to support liveable, thriving, connected communities
   Waikato District is one of the fastest-growing district councils in the country. Managing this growth and maintaining ratepayer affordability to fund the infrastructure required are two of the Council’s biggest challenges. As the district grows, the Council needs to continue to attract and encourage new commercial activity to provide local employment, to help fund the growth pressure and to underpin the Council vision of liveable, thriving and connected communities. This must be balanced by the need to continue to protect some of the country’s most fertile soils, recognising that primary industries are still the biggest employers in the district and essential to the district’s and the country’s economic wellbeing. The Council's growth and economic development strategy, Waikato 2070, is due for a major review and will be a focus for the new Council elected in 2025.
    

3. Environment and risk management
   The Council has a strong role to play in working with vulnerable communities to adapt to climate change and to address risks from natural hazards and severe weather events. This means developing robust policies, raising community awareness, and working with all stakeholders to address a range of issues including coastal "retreat", infrastructure resilience, Civil Defence and community response planning. The Council also has a responsibility for finding ways to reduce waste (rubbish/recycling), reduce the environmental impact of wastewater discharge, and to reduce its own carbon emissions through efficient and affordable measures.   This is vital work that requires a strong, long-term focus. 
    

4. Community wellbeing and local blueprints/plans
   The Government has recently removed Council responsibility for the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of our communities from the Local Government Act.  However, Council still has a responsibility to ensure that the communities’ voices are heard and that the communities' values are reflected in the Council’s policies, plans and actions. Local area blueprints (a form of local community planning) were introduced to help give effect to the Council's vision of liveable, thriving and connected communities, and to inform the Council’s Long Term Plan. Whatever form this initiative continues to take, I am committed to being a Councillor who will represent local views as well as making decisions for the good of the whole district. I will be a listening post and an active representative of Tamahere-Woodlands Ward and look forward to continuing to work with community committees  across the Ward.
    

5. A good employer can act in the best interests of the community
   The Waikato District Council is one of the district’s biggest employers and yet, under our contract model of operations, our employment costs per head of population are 8th lowest among all Councils in the country.  We are dependent on dedicated and well-trained Council staff to provide the services our community needs, and our employment policies must reflect this.  Waikato District Council must continue to attract and retain good staff and provide a safe and healthy working environment.  Our communities’ interests rely on it.

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Maaori representation

Waikato District electors voted against retaining our two Maaori Wards by a narrow margin in 2025. Maaori Wards will cease to exist in 2028 and cannot be considered again until 2034. Maaori Ward councillors currently represent a population of 15,000 as a result of people choosing to be on the Maaori electoral roll, and they provide a voice for 26% of the District's population who are Maaori. However, the Waikato District Council has now established  representative groupings, called Toituu Marae, of the 41 marae in our District as a means of hearing local Maaori voices, much as community committees provide a means of channelling voices from our different towns and villages. Three marae are situated in the Tamahere-Woodlands Ward alongside the Ward's seven other rural village communities.