Motueka ward in 2025 local election

The Motueka ward has a population of 12,500 people and gets to vote three councillors. That means each councillors represents 4,167 people of this ward making it the only ward in the district which sits currently within the 10% range of what is considered a fair representation. Two of the three current councillors are seeking re-election. Like in Golden Bay, the voters in Motueka also get to choose an additional four elected representatives for their Community Board. Only one current member is seeking re-election.

The candidates have only very few lines to make themselves known in the information booklet which comes together with the voting papers. In addition, community groups organised meetings where the candidates appear in a speed dating like scenario with all other candidates and are asked to perform well under pressure and express themselves well. They are first invited to speak about themselves for a number of minutes and will then be faced with either questions aimed at a particular candidate or at all candidates.

Some have never worked in local politics and may only be known to some through various other activities - do these tell people enough about whether or not a candidate will bring the required skills to the table where the job is to make political decisions? Others do have political experience - have they proven to have the skills that are needed for a role of an elected representative in local politics?

The new councillors will have to have consideration to the needs and wants of the ward he or she will represent whilst at the same time having to fairly balance these against overall priorities of the whole district. This is a huge balancing act each councillor is facing when tasked with making good political decisions. It does require good judgement and communication skills.

Given the dire financial situation of this particular council it will be a tough decision between further rate hikes to keep up with infrastructure costs (maintenance and newly built) and losing more current ratepayers to other districts (because they can no longer afford the increased rates), or less infrastructure and upkeep with less demographic change in respect of the current population. What is the direction for the district preferred by the majority of the district for this coming term?

For this election, there were a total of three meet the candidates events for the Motueka ward - two in person and one online. The two meetings for the Motueka ward councillor and mayoral candidates were each attended by around 50 people. The Tasman Community Group, who decided last minute due to expression of interest by the public and candidates to also host a meet the candidates for the Community Board candidates, managed to attract around 30 attendees for that event. This article focuses on the ward and its community board. A summary of the mayor candidates will be published separately.

The candidates

The Motueka ward has got three councillor vacancies to be filled, with two incumbent councillors seeking re-election: Brent Maru and Trindi Walker. The further two ward councillor candidates are Dave Ross and Kerryn Ferneyhough.

The new ward councillors will be aided by their four colleagues on the Community Board to efficiently and effectively gather views on local government matters across the Motueka ward which will hopefully assist them in making good decisions around the council table. This is what the council candidates say about themselves: https://www.tasman.govt.nz/my-council/about-us/your-mayor-and-councillors/local-elections/nominations-received/motueka-ward

In summary, the voters will ask themselves whether their current councillors are doing well around the council table and therefore deserve their votes again and whether the two new candidates (or one of them) get their trust to represent their views going forward.

Trindi Walker is a returning councillor who is clearly well-known in her ward by people of many walks of life and is a very approachable person. She made her stance around tiny homes and social issues very clear which was also what many of the attendees of the meet the candidates events were interested in. She speaks up in meetings, both for the community board and around the council table and is able to point out irregularities in e.g. financial reports in public. She is seen often and attends many meetings outside of council business. Used to read a lot in very short period of time and is well aware of how difficult this can be at times. She has shown to stand up for her community and to use her voting at times to make that clear at the council table.

Brent Maru is equally well-known and even ran for Mayor in the past. He also holds other offices and knows council business equally well as Trindi. He is approachable but somewhat reluctant to stand up too loudly and usually votes on council decisions like everyone else . On the other hand he was very supportive of the recommendation the Motueka Community Board was preparing to Council in regards to the tiny home provisions and called it openly a “silly rule”.

Dave Ross does not live in the Motueka ward (in Mahana) but worked in Motueka for a long time as a pharmacist. He was very credible in the way he assured that he is well aware of pressing issues for both the district and Motueka. He appears someone who is ready to speak up, used to reading fine print and dares to take on responsibility. He does not seem to seek a career but has got genuine issues he wants to address. He is affiliated with Act local and we hope his procedural knowledge will benefit from that support.

Kerryn Ferneyhough is relatively new to the ward and works as a teacher which she would stop doing should she be elected. Her presentation seemed very much focused on community resilience and the floods and we could not find one particular area of local government passion or expertise where she was able to make a stand. She was endorsed by David Armstrong who also appears in her campaign video and who was very critical of the current community board’s work. Armstrong left the community board one year early and was equally critical of relaxing the tiny home rules, but is much in favour of the current Mayor. It would seem Kerryn’s partner is part of a local group just recently featured in the local free press to educate voters. We are not convinced that this candidate has shown much appetite for change and suspect that this candidate would appeal to those who are happy with the current council.

The Motueka ward voters will be able to choose four Community Board members from a total of five candidates, one of those seeking re-election, Claire Hutt.

Claire Hutt had already three terms on either council or community board and has clearly established a network and is aware of what is happening within the community. We have seen her asking more questions during the last term on the community board.

David Ogilvie is not really a new candidate but someone with lots of experience around Motueka and the Council as ex-councillor. He started coming regularly to meetings of the current community board since the beginning of this year, speaking in public forum on relevant matters with valid points.

Ray Hellyer is a very dedicated local with a long-standing passion for local politics and the Motueka Community Board and can be seen at most of their meetings, either contributing to public forum or sitting in the audience. He has been very outspoken on topics close to his heart.

John Katene appears to be a well-respected local who has made his points of interest very clear which are all valid local politics matters.

Laura Lusk stands out as she does seem to bring a different perspective to the table with her professional background and her being a mother of teenagers.

This is what they say about themselves https://www.tasman.govt.nz/my-council/about-us/your-mayor-and-councillors/local-elections/nominations-received/motueka-community-board-2

The ward and its current representation

The Motueka ward is quite interesting and diverse. We have got the Motueka township, parts of the Motueka valley, Lower Moutere, Riwaka, Marahau and Kaiteriteri who all make up the 12,500 people of this ward. It was just announced that Motueka is going to lose its famous Hop federation brewery which may have some bitter taste going forward. Motueka has been advocating and fundraising for their public pool for maybe around 20 years now and given the serious financial situation of this council, will they have to wait even longer?

Motueka is dealing with wharf issues, channel issues, freedom camping, youth, tourism, local interest groups, dog on beaches issues and anything in between. After the recent weather events flood protection and gravel extraction became a big topic in Motueka. The town of Motueka isn’t much of a tourism spot, but certainly the Abel Tasman, Marahau and Kaiteriri are which adds to the mix and challenges in this ward. There are also challenges around various housing developments. The community is very affected by the current regulations around tiny homes and this appears to be a topic going forward. The Motueka wastewater plant is another issue which will need advocacy and money which in turn will cause tension in respect of other projects to go ahead.

It was certainly a term with many challenges especially for the Community Board who had a total of three chairs and a large number of ever-changing council support staff. There were many discussions around issues on financial reports and items on their actions list. Many discussions around the tiny home issues and presentations of people that went under one’s skin. They have made a real effort to make their reporting as transparent as possible and their Board’s reports have become very informative and consistent. We hope this format will survive the change of membership. Another main focus of their work was to write a suitable code of conduct which will most likely be superseded soon by a centralised one which is currently in draft. The Community Board has made an effort to be visible within the community and to run surveys. Yet, there are many limitations on a Community Board which restricts their ability to get things underway. We remember discussions around having to ask the Council for the smallest amount of money which does not seem very efficient whilst being somewhat stuck around significant reserve funds which appear hard to be utilised.

The role of an elected councillor

Councillors are governance not part of management. Logically, their achievements will be measured through the political decisions they make around the council table in Richmond and some of those decisions will be reflecting on each ratepayers’ invoice, their fees and charges, speed limits, core and community infrastructure and rules coming from bylaws. As plan changes are currently being put on hold by central government, there may be less on this front for now.

Decisions on bylaws, policies, rates, debt, development contributions, unbudgeted expenditures, decisions to move into a confidential session, decisions to agree or disagree to information in a staff report. Those decisions require a strong commitment for reading a lot in a very short period of time. It requires the mental and intellectual capacity to read the small print and to ask in public when something is unclear, to speak up when needed and to stand up for what is right even though some may not agree. It also requires someone who is willing to understand the legal implications of the decisions lying on the table as well as their practical value and the financial implications of those decisions. The speed limit changes are a recent political decisions the whole district is now faced with.

It does not stop with reading, but understanding matters quickly, making up their minds, preparing relevant questions, taking questions coming from the community in respect of those items on the agenda into account, debating in public and finally voting on those matters whilst at the same time adopting past meetings’ minutes which means attesting that they present an accurate record of those. The required skill extends to understanding the applicable legal framework and whether the proposal sits well within it. To be fair, staff assistance is provided. In CEO Leonie Rae’s words in the pre-election report: “Staff will support all Elected Members with the information and training needed to make sound, informed decisions.” In addition, elected members have the opportunity to seek independent advice from LGNZ or maybe even further afield. Whether or how any additional external support can be financed from existing budget, we don’t know. We haven’t seen consistent and high-quality staff input across departments in the last term unfortunately and are concerned that councillors and community board members may not be getting the support they deserve.

The pre-election report does also state important issues for the upcoming years. Given the recently announced stop on council plan reviews and changes up to 2027, it looks as though this incoming Council will be stuck with current rules for a while without much flexibility and room for making new rules for the district. The upside may be that there might be potential for less packed agendas going forward but there could be a potential for focusing on potential changes in central government when those haven’t been implemented yet and which may not persist after yet another central government election in the next year. So really, a difficult task for all councillors to stay focused on the relevant political decisions in accordance with the current legislative framework.

Summary of the meet the candidates events

There were a total of three meet the candidates - with one dedicated to community board candidates and two for the ward and mayoral candidates. Two meetings were organised by the Tasman Community Group and one by Love Motueka which was chaired by ex-councillor Peter Canton. About half the audience left during the break of the Love Motueka meeting which was also characterised by preset questions and only little room for questions from the floor.

Kerryn Ferneyhough had the answers to the questions prepared beforehand and could read off her notes. All other candidates responded freely.

The Tasman Community Group meetings were organised in such way that ward candidates could present themselves first and then it was open for questions to individual candidates and then the same for the mayoral candidates (unfortunately there were only two mayoral candidates present that night - Timo Neubauer and Richard Johns). There was also a lady present who spoke about Maori wards.

Nick Hughes, current Motueka Community Board Member, stood up at some point to make a very clear stand in regard to his observations from being on the board for the last three years. He voiced his concerns around enforcement and management staff, around the tiny home issue in the ward and his concerns around not getting the staff support required to get the job done.

Brent Maru was the first to present his statement on why is standing and what he is standing for. He mentioned that there were a number of council decisions he did not fully support but still voted for them. He was then asked what if more councillors were in a similar position, namely having concerns and still voting in favor. He opted to make a stance of why he chose to vote in favour. We from Tasman Democracy believe the concerns are best documented in voting behaviour or other procedural means aimed at resolving concerns prior to voting.

Trindi Walker was convincing in what she said - her stance on prosperity being wider than only financially, her continued community commitment and many of the things she stands for. One of the candidate who needs the least extra words as she is really self-explanatory, known and consistent.

Dave Ross did really well presenting himself despite his issues with the microphone and given the fact that he does not have a political background. He did not pretend knowing everything but seemed genuinely passionate about the issues around spending and voiced a strong commitment to keep the rates down, but “I have to read the books”. Does not to be shy and is seen during other meet the candidates events in the audience or during Community Board meetings. He is affiliated with Act local, and transparency is appreciated.

Kerryn Ferneyhough did not impress but made a mention about introducing a tourism tax which apparently was done in the past but with only limited success given the administrative costs of it. She was asked about her affiliation with David Armstrong, a former community board member and unfortunately she didn’t take that well but became rather defensive. The question was that David Armstrong believes she has the skills to bring the Board back on track - what are your skills and where do you think they went off track? We could not find an answer as she said she was not going to talk dirty about people who aren’t in the room.

Trindi Walker and Brent Maru raised during the meeting that they were not happy that the CEO Review Subcommittee (only Mayor King, Deputy Mayor Bryant and Cllr Meckenzie) attested high performance of the current CEO Leonie Rae and adjusted her salary without a formal approval by all councillors. Councillors only received a report afterwards but had no influence over the decision. The problem is that the current terms of reference of that subcommittee appear to limit this subcommittee to only make recommendations, and not make final decisions. This is a really big issue right before the election especially given the continuous concerns around council culture and various issues around council’s management.

Tasman Democracy Inc would like to highlight that Trindi Walker and Brent Maru did choose to receive communications from our organisation as well as from some of our members who in their private capacity were deemed a wellbeing risk to staff according to the CEO Leonie Rae. We appreciate their stance on fulfilling their oath and listening to everyone in the district.

After the election one of the four ward councillor candidates will become Chair of the Motueka Aerodrome Advisory Group. Each of the four candidates was asked whether they would open these meetings to the public again as they are currently held confidentially. All of them answered Yes.

There were many questions from the floor and the tiny home issue was very much alive for many. As well as general issues around council management and enforcement. Let’s see who is going to represent Motueka this coming term. There are surely challenging times ahead for local topics and the overall financial health of the whole district.