Five current councillors for Queenstown Lakes District lined up with three aspiring candidates on stage at a ‘Meet the Candidates’ event on Tuesday (September 16) in Wānaka.

Incumbents Quentin Smith, Lyal Cocks, Barry Bruce, and Cody Tucker - all representing the Wānaka Ward - and Niki Gladding currently representing the Queenstown-Whakatipu Ward, were joined by Craig Gasson, Nicola King, and Yeverley McCarthy. Thorsk Westphal was absent.

Introductions provided some humour, with Nicola announcing she was the only candidate in their 30s, only to discover Cody is 30 - followed by Yeverley introducing herself as ‘the old one”.

Quentin told the audience he wasn’t “standing or running for obvious reasons, but I'd like to think after nine years you know how I roll”, drawing laughter and applause.

The laughs didn’t last long, however, and Quentin went on to say there is “a crisis of trust in the council, and there's a crisis of how we pay for the infrastructure that we need”.

Council’s “biggest failing” is trust, he said.  

“That impacts every single thing we do. We cannot have a conversation about [for example] a playing field if people don't trust the council that they're talking to.”

Another recurring theme was changes ahead, including - close to home - a new council CEO to be appointed, and further ahead, local government reform. 

Cody referenced the range of reforms underway in local government which is “shifting the way everything works”, calling this “an incredible opportunity”.

Nicola said a new CEO will be “crucial to how we then trust the council”, and Yeverley agreed the appointment was an opportunity.

“The KPIs for this position are going to frame our development going forwards and they can't be underestimated,” she said. “These will include future-proofing our infrastructure as a priority and working towards sustainable rates by sound financial management and planning.”

Cody said council could improve on “relaying back” to people what council has heard and “why the decisions have gone the way that they've done”, as well as opening consultation to different tools, such as referenda.

Niki, asked how she would ensure the Upper Clutha Ward voice is heard more strongly in Queenstown-based decisions, drew applause with her suggestion that council needs to focus on “better consultation, making sure that we don't… manipulate the scope of our consultations to get the answers back that we want”. 

She was asked what reforms she would push for from within, and she proposed “a legal auditor” to look at council decisions and consultations to ensure they comply with the Local Government Act.

Craig said the incumbent councillors had “really let the community down on the ability to engage and be a conduit to the community”, and that he would engage with the community on behalf of the council.

The importance of the environment was another theme in the candidates’ responses.

Craig was asked his position on balancing environmental protection with ongoing residential and commercial development, and he responded that the current rate of growth was “risking our environment”.

“At the forefront of any growth and development has to be an environmental consideration.”  

Nicola said she would bring the perspective of sustainability to the council, “especially with this current government mandate about growth, growth, growth”.  

“We really need to be careful that we don't just grow at the expense of our social well-being and our environment.”

What about specifics?

The incumbent councillors, while facing the disadvantage of having to defend the council’s track record, also had the advantage in being able to point to progress on specific projects.

Lyal, when asked what unfinished business he would like to return to and complete, provided a list of what had been achieved including the council purchase of the Mt Iron Reserve and major investment in Project Pure.

Things to be completed included remediating 20 hectares of land for sports fields and facilities at Ballantyne Road; upgrading the transport plan; and airport planning. He added: “Don't get too hung up about … negative speculation and witch hunts on what went wrong. Let's look positive”.  

Barry, when asked how he would ensure the Wānaka Ward receives its fair share of QLDC resources and attention, said the “spend is proportionate”.

“I think that there is a perception … that Queenstown does dominate, but I think that there's a pretty fair balance between the two areas.”

He said key infrastructure projects he would prioritise for the Upper Clutha Ward over the next three years were Three Waters “infrastructure challenges”, community amenities such as sports facilities, road infrastructure and public transport.

Lyal was asked how to support managed growth in Wānaka without compromising community values. He said work was underway on that issue, “starting with the new Spatial Plan”.

“That's where you lay out where the development should happen, could happen, without spoiling the environment; where the commercial support centres go for those new areas. And … looking right through the sub-region…”

The Urban Intensification Variation Plan change outcome is tied in with the Spatial Plan, he said, with “development assessment that's been done that helps us plan ahead and get it right”.

Cody said while ratepayers had “basically nothing” for their rates increases, and problems are systemic, councillors have an opportunity to “shift everything” with a new CEO, and a council controlled water organisation, and a regional deal.

“A lot of the opportunity to really make the problems that we've suffered for decades actually be solved. So right now we need strong leadership, we need great culture and we need future focus forward thinking.” 

Lyal said there are “big things on the go” and “the biggest issue is we can't keep the financial burden on ratepayers to fund the services and the infrastructure and all the other expectations we've got to fund”. 

“... we've got to do something different. That's why I'm really keen working on getting this regional deal over the line and a few other initiatives to do that.”

The next opportunity to hear from candidates is a ‘meet the candidates - speed dating style’ session at the Wānaka Community Hub from 4-7pm on Friday September 26.

PHOTO: Wānaka App