New Wānaka resident John Bache, an international business strategist and long-time action sports advocate, has announced his candidacy for the Wānaka–Upper Clutha Community Board in the upcoming local body elections.After more than two decades living and working in Germany, John returned to Aotearoa in 2024 and has since made Wānaka his home. “I’m standing because I care deeply about this place and the people who call it home,” John said.“This is a truly special community - and making good decisions now will shape how well we thrive in the future.” John said he brings over 20 years of global experience helping organisations adapt, grow, and communicate clearly in complex environments. A passionate snowboarder and mountain biker since the 1980s, he was part of New Zealand’s first wave of riders, and began actively advocating for both sports in the 1990s. His campaign priorities include sustainable growth, support for local business, improved access to health services (especially mental health), and stronger public infrastructure - particularly public transport and safe bike paths. On environmental issues, John is especially focused on the protection and restoration of local waterways, which he sees as a defining and threatened asset of the Upper Clutha region. “I believe in community-led decision-making, and I’m here to listen, learn, and put in the mahi,” John said. “If I can be useful to the future of this place, I’d be honoured to serve.”Meanwhile, board incumbent and Wānaka business owner Chris Hadfield is standing for a third term on the board.He has lived in Wānaka for nearly 20 years and is passionate about the Upper Clutha, he said."My main desire is to get more engagement from the community as we work through the next three years,” he said.“We have some basic things to complete, such as making the town centre more pedestrian friendly with additional formal crossings. I would like to see the conclusion of the public transport strategy so that we can begin to see some meaningful options for people to use buses.”A related topic is parking, Chris said. “Our biggest issues here are the poorly monitored enforcement and the time restrictions.” He said the future of Wānaka Airport is also a priority. “We have the time, the passion and the knowledge to create an airport that we can all be proud of and can be used by a multitude of diverse people.“I would like to continue to be an advocate for the whole community and I truly believe that when we work as one, Wānaka can be an even better place to live, work and play.”PHOTOS: Supplied

Nominations are closing soon, but Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) says there is still time for people to stand in the upcoming local elections. To date there are six for four spots on the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s (QLDC) Wānaka Ward, including incumbent councillors Quentin Smith (current deputy mayor), Lyal Cocks, Barry Bruce, and Cody Tucker.In addition, long term Wānaka resident Craig Gasson announced his candidacy for council in May and a last-minute nomination for current Queenstown-Whakatipu Ward councillor Niki Gladding was announced this week. Niki is standing in Wānaka after a recent move here. There’s no shortage of mayoral candidates, however, with six current nominees, including incumbent Glyn Lewers, with Queenstown businessman Nik Kiddle, Shaping Our Future executive John Glover, Queenstown iwi consultant Darren Rewi, regular mayoral contestant Al Angus, and regular council aspirant Daniel Shand all vying for the top job.There are now more nominations for the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) than there are vacant seats, with incumbents Simon Telfer (the current chair), Chris Hadfield, John Wellington, and Linda Joll joined by local community leader Kathy Dedo and newcomer John Bache.Otago Regional Council’s (ORC) Dunstan constituency, which this year has an extra (fourth) seat, has so far only received nominations from incumbent Gary Kelliher, former Central Otago District councillor Neil Gillespie, and Queenstown tourism manager Matt Hollyer.Candidate nominations close this Friday (August 1) at noon, with voting papers sent out from September 9-22 ahead of local elections on Saturday October 11.Your current choice of QLDC mayor: Glyn Lewers, John Glover, Nik Kiddle, Darren Rewi, Al Angus, Daniel Shand.LGNZ chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said the more candidates who stand at local elections, the more choice the community has on who represents their interests on councils. “Evidence tells us that the more candidates who contest a seat in an area, the higher the community’s interest will be in that election from a voting perspective. “It’s good democracy when people have a choice of who to vote for, so we welcome candidates putting up their hand to say ‘I want to be a voice for my community’.” She said past elections show that many candidates choose to wait until the final week to submit their nominations. “We strongly encourage candidates not to leave things to the last day, to allow time for information to be checked and any issues resolved.” More information is provided in LGNZ’s candidate guide and pre-election learning package.PHOTOS: Supplied/Jeannine Tuffin

Two more candidates have announced their intention to stand for the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board in the upcoming local body elections.They are Kathy Dedo and current board member Linda Joll, both professionals with substantial local involvement through years working with local charities.“I’ve been privileged to serve my community in a variety of roles over the past 23 years, and I’m excited to now put my hand up for local government,” Kathy said.“My experience in governance, business, and working at the heart of this community enables me to represent a wide range of views.”For the past 23 years, Kathy has worked and volunteered across a range of local community issues: serving on boards and committees of the Wānaka Business Chamber, Parenting4Life, Shaping our Future, Alpine Community Development Trust, Wānaka Area Youth Trust, Wānaka Alcohol Group, Holy Family School, and Montessori preschool. She is currently a board member of the Central Lakes Trust (deputy chair and Audit & Risk Committee chair) as well as chair of Sport Otago.She has recently completed a term on ministerial advisory group Kāpuia, advising the government on its response to the Christchurch mosque attacks.Her community roles have seen her play a strong part in local engagement and decision-making, including starting the community gardens that supply the Community Link foodbank, and accelerating public transport planning by leading the community shuttle trials. She also contributed to past iterations of the Wānaka Town Centre Masterplanning and Wānaka Airport Masterplanning, both of which will be refreshed soon.“Planning for the Upper Clutha’s future has been the focus of my work for years. I’d love the chance to continue that mahi on the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board,” Kathy said.Meanwhile, Linda – a director at Reset Urban Design who has lived in Wānaka since 2015 – is proud of the progress made during her first term on the WUCCB and is looking forward to building on that work.“This term will be one for actioning the priorities made by this existing community board, therefore I am fully committed to ensuring these priorities are community based, [and] have the best possible outcomes for the environment, the community, our tamariki, our wai, and our visitors,” she said.During the current term she has been on the environment portfolio, working alongside the Friends of Bullock Creek, Te Kakano Aotearoa Trust, WAI Wānaka, the Cardona Ratepayers and Residents Association, and others.“My trustee position on the Lakes District Arts Trust will continue to support the use of art in the landscape, and support more sculpture in our public spaces for all to enjoy and have easy access to,” she said. “We are so blessed to have a piece of the late Paul Dibble’s work on our lakefront, placed within our outstanding natural landscape for everyone to enjoy.”Linda, who has three adult children, also gives her time to Food for Love and Warbirds Over Wānaka. She says she’s motivated to continue contributing to the place she’s proud to call home.Candidate nominations for local body elections close this Friday (August 1).PHOTOS: Supplied

Simon Telfer, the current chair of the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB), has announced he will stand again for the board at this year’s local body elections.“It has been a privilege to chair the community board over the past three years, but there is plenty of unfinished business,” he said.“We need continued strong leadership to ensure Wānaka and the Upper Clutha receive an equitable share of [Queenstown Lakes District Council] QLDC funding and prioritisation.”Simon said priority projects for the ward include increased sports fields and facilities, safer pedestrian crossing points in the town centre, a clearer future for Wānaka Airport, a new roundabout at the Golf Course/Ballantyne Road intersection, and protection of our natural environment, especially our two lakes“I’d also like the $5M+ languishing in the Wānaka Asset Sales (Scurr Heights) Reserve to be invested into community infrastructure as soon as possible,” he said.“The idea of a community facility in Albert Town has my support.”Simon said the highlights from his three years on the board included “leading last year’s community health public meeting, completing Mt Iron’s reserve management plan, expanding our walking and biking network, commencing Wānaka Airport’s future review and empowering the community to invest the Scurr Heights Fund”. As a trustee of the Armstrong Trust he was also proud of championing large donations to Te Kura o Titiea Mount Aspiring College (MAC) Foundation, Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust, and After Hours Urgent Care service, he said.“I’ve been fully committed to my elected role over the past three years, attending 200 community engagements, making hundreds of phone calls and sending 4,900 emails.“If re-elected I commit to ensuring QLDC gives the Upper Clutha its equitable share of resources and prioritisation; Developing more sports fields and facilities; Acting as a guardian for our beautiful natural environment; People being at the heart of Wānaka’s town centre redevelopment; and supporting our not for profit community, especially Health Action Wānaka.” Over the past 25 years Simon has acted as a director and advisor to privately owned businesses across New Zealand. He is a patron of the Festival of Colour and supporter of a number of local artists. He lives in Wānaka with his wife, Jo Shearer, and two daughters who attend MAC.

Queenstown resident Darren Rewi (Ngati Mamoe and Waitaha, Ngati Kahungungu ki Te Wairoa, Rongowhakaata, Ngati Porou) has announced he will stand for mayor of Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC).He joins incumbent mayor Glyn Lewers, Shaping Our Future executive John Glover, and businessman Nik Kiddle in the mayoral race.Darren (62), who has lived in the district for 32 years, has been involved in a wide range of community and governance roles.“Enabling and empowering all communities from Makarora to Tahuna Glenorchy is a passion,” he said.QLDC voters need to consider leadership, governance and engagement when they choose their mayor and councillors, Darren said.He said he has over 20 years of senior level leadership and governance experience on local, regional and national boards, and has qualifications and experience in strategic and change management.“Along with the wider Queenstown Lakes District community we the elected councillors need to come together to articulate a strategic vision for the next 30 years, not the next election cycle.” Darren said he supports “an open and transparent working relationship” between mayor and CEO, with a “no surprises” policy for the mayor and elected councillors.“There has been a lack of accountability recently which has led to a removal of community support. The councillors and the staff need to focus on reducing costs that have ballooned beyond our need.”He said there is “no point creating reviews and investigations; it’s obvious that there has been poor decision making and now its for the new council and mayor to create an expectation of accountability and that’s a conversation with the CEO”.“We need to look forward and get moving: let’s revisit issues like single designated authority and what contractors are and are not adding value. If they are not, then they are gone. We need with urgency to reduce and remove our reliance on contractors.”Darren said progress on the Regional Deal with central government comes with opportunities and expectations. The government wants to enable growth through productivity, but while Queenstown Lakes is projected to be the biggest population centre for Otago, its productivity rate is 10 percent lower than the rest of New Zealand, he said.“When we work with developers and private investors, once due diligence is done and we agree to move forward, can we enable their projects; we need to unlock the bureaucracy for us to achieve.”“Leadership is key”, he added.Read more: Local ‘regional deal’ progresses to next stage“Part of enabling the community is to utilise iwi and Maori business and the capability they have… The recent investment of Totara Energy to acquire 30 percent of Pioneer Energy is a great example of bringing the capability of nine iwi to the table for the benefit of New Zealand.”As part of the Māori community Darren provided support to the wider community during the Covid-19 pandemic, from which the Mana Tahuna Charitable Trust emerged. Darren has been chair of the trust since it was founded in 2020.He is a trustee of the Sky City Queenstown Community Foundation, vice chair of the Victim Support national board, a ministerial appointee on the board of Herenga a Nuku the Outdoor Access Commission, and Ngai Tahu ki Murihiku representative on the Otago Regional Council Upper Lakes Freshwater Catchment Working Group. Darren is also a local business owner (cultural support company Take Tuia), and was recently the vice chair of the Arts Culture and Heritage Strategy Committee. He was the mayoral appointee as chair of the Welcoming Communities Steering Group.Darren has also been involved with Scouts, football, supporting schools, iwi roles, and contributed for nine years as a volunteer fire fighter. He has led the ongoing restoration of Waiwhakaata Lake Hayes. PHOTO: Supplied

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