Nominations for the 2025 local body elections are now officially open, and most local elected representatives have confirmed their plans to run for office again, while a few remain tight-lipped.At least three out of four Wānaka councillors elected to Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) have confirmed they will run for office again this year.Lyal Cocks, Barry Bruce and Cody Tucker say they are putting their hats in the ring again, while deputy mayor Quentin Smith did not respond to the Wānaka App’s query.Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) chair Simon Telfer said he hopes to share his decision in the next few weeks; board member John Wellington confirmed he will stand for the board again, but not QLDC (as he did three years’ ago); Chris Hadfield also confirmed he would stand for the board; and Linda Joll said she was unsure.Meanwhile QLDC hopes to increase participation in the election with the launch of its 2025 local election campaign, The Highest Vote, on Friday (July 4).The campaign invites voters to “take part in democracy at new heights”, with special high-altitude ballot boxes available at Cardrona Alpine Resort’s ticketing office (1,670m) and Treble Cone’s ticketing area (1,260m), hosted by RealNZ.QLDC will also host a one-day voting box at the Crown Range lookout on October 10. Residents who prefer to vote closer to home can do so by post or at voting boxes located throughout the district. A map of voting locations and further information will be available on the QLDC website.  The Crown Range lookout will host a one-day voting box on October 10. PHOTO: Wānaka AppTo stand for election, candidates must be enrolled voters and nominated by two voters from the area they wish to represent. QLDC said it “encourages people of all backgrounds to consider standing, no prior experience needed”. “How our district moves forward involves everyone who lives here, so it’s important that our elected officials reflect the values and ideas of our diverse community,” QLDC chief executive Mike Theelen said. “Now is a great time to learn more about the challenges and rewards, either for yourself or for friends and family who you think would make great local leaders.”In 2022, 43.05 percent of eligible voters in the district cast their ballots. This year, QLDC hopes to surpass the national average voter turnout of 44.5 percent.  Nominations for both QLDC and the WUCCB opened on Friday (July 4) and will close at 12pm on Friday August 1.  Voting papers will be delivered between September 9-22, and the voting period is September 9 to October 11.The QLDC website provides information on who can stand for election, how to get nominated, and how to campaign when the time comes. 

Queenstown resident and former mayoral candidate Nik Kiddle has announced he will run for mayor of Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) later this year.Nik contested the mayoralty unsuccessfully in 2019 against incumbent Jim Boult, following his opposition to Boult’s bed tax proposal.Nik was a member of a tax equity lobby group which said the proposed levy (five to ten per cent applied to visitor accommodation in order to help fund tourism infrastructure in the region) would have disastrous consequences for accommodation providers’ profits.The former owner of Villa Del Lago now says it’s time for “big improvements” at QLDC, starting at “the top”.“New leadership is vital to rebuild a trusted well functioning team,” Nik said.“The mayor must return to forging consensus among elected representatives and opening up the council’s administration to community led views.“No more back room deals, no more selling out to drive corporate profits. Transparency and information sharing must become the new norm. Care with ratepayers’ money must dominate decision making and prioritisation must deliver first on core business.”Nik said while QLDC rates have been increasing there has been “a deterioration in the quality of life here”. “This council has got us into a great deal of trouble over sewage, transport and housing. Productivity is suffering. Neighbourhoods and the environment are suffering. All these issues need fresh leadership to drive improved outcomes.”  Nik said QLDC’s relationship with central government also needs to be improved. “We’ve got a golden opportunity now to grab new resources. But we need a leader focussed on options that exist, instead of peddling a pipe dream of new law so council can tax business turnover.“This must be our focus now without distractions over outdated complex ideas. Current leadership is mired in the past and needs to be swept aside to achieve success.” He criticised a lack of compliance with regional standards, and public transport decisions which “fail to take account of our district’s unique needs, whether it’s school buses or miles of traffic cones, traffic jams and drawn out roading ‘improvements’.”  “We can do way better. The best strategy to improve our council is to vote for change and ‘tick Nik’,” he said.Glenorchy resident and Shaping Our Future executive officer John Glover announced in April that he will contest the mayoralty. Read more: John Glover to contest mayoraltyLocal body elections will take place from September 22, 2025.PHOTO: Supplied

Otago Regional Council (ORC) is encouraging people to start thinking now about standing in this year’s local government election or consider nominating someone else.  “July might seem a long way off, but now’s a good time to start thinking about whether you or someone you know might fit the bill,” ORC chief executive Richard Saunders said. “By standing for election to ORC, you’ll be a part of Otago’s democracy,” he said. “Being an elected member of local government can be a rewarding role, as you advocate for your communities and work with our partners to achieve the best outcomes for this region we love.”ORC has 12 councillors over four wards - Dunstan (covering Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago), as well as Dunedin, Moeraki and Molyneux.The Dunstan ward will have additional representation in this election for the first time after a recent decision to boost Dunstan’s councils seats by one to four.Dunstan’s three existing seats are currently filled by Gary Kelliher, Michael Laws and Alexa Forbes. None of the current councillors live in the Upper Clutha.Read more: More local representation on ORCRichard said councillors will influence decisions covering “environmental management, natural resource management, public transport, preparing for and responding to emergencies and natural disasters as well as the economic, social, cultural, and environmental wellbeing of the region”.“You can be a key part of that,” he said. Candidates for an elected member need to be: a New Zealand citizen, over 18 years old, and enrolled on a New Zealand electoral roll.“People can find out more by heading to our Election 2025 webpage where they can find information about what a regional council does, the role of a councillor, how much they get paid, how many meetings they need to attend and how much reading is required,” he said. Find more information here.PHOTO: ORC

Glenorchy resident and Shaping Our Future executive officer John Glover has announced he will run for mayor of Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) at this year’s local body elections in October.John made the announcement, the first of its kind for this election, “in response to the many enquiries I’ve received around my intentions for the upcoming election”, he said.John has previously stood unsuccessfully for the QLDC in 2013, 2019, and in a by-election in 2023.John said relationships between QLDC and its key stakeholders “are broken”. “There needs to be a ‘hard reset’ to change that, restore community confidence and return the balance of power back to communities via their elected representatives,” he said.“I will campaign to restore openness and trust, and hope to partner with candidates who also seek to restore a functioning democracy in this district.”John’s proposed policies include inviting a “crown observer” to investigate and report on QLDC’s management of risk, its governance and financial probity around the Shotover Wastewater treatment plant, the Lakeview development, Queenstown’s proposed new civic building Project Manawa, and Queenstown’s arterial road construction.He said he would establish a working group of Upper Clutha community stakeholders “to identify changes that should be made to support ‘one district’ council policies and operations”.He also said he would ensure that all council workshops would be public and live-streamed online unless there were exceptional reasons for excluding the public; amend standing orders to remove the discretion of the mayor to require in-person attendance to speak at public forums; provide procedural changes around the use of a casting vote, and include Notice of Councillor Motions and “any other business” on council agendas “to encourage councillors to actively set the direction of QLDC”.John would undertake a review of how QLDC should store and publish information, he said, “in order to enable speedier and fuller compliance with information requests from councillors and the public”; establish a quasi-independent Information Office to assist those requesting information and monitor the fullness of responses to requests.He also proposed a standalone review of QLDC’s significance and engagement policy “so councillors can readily establish, on the community’s behalf, issues where consultation is expected and how that should be undertaken”.Finally, he proposed that any new civic building for Queenstown be located in the Frankton area to make it more accessible to residents of the Upper Clutha, Arrowtown, Shotover & Jacks Point/Hanley Farm.“Trust is something that is earned, and we don’t need another expensive consultants’ report to place a spin on uncomfortable realities: that’s so symptomatic of the problem,” he said.“We just need to make the necessary changes. Success will be when the community has our back, rather than being on our back.”Local body elections will take place from September 22, 2025.PHOTO: Supplied