While not yet official, Wally Sanford looks to have been elected to the vacant seat on Cromwell’s Community Board (CCB) by a comfortable margin.

The 38-year-old surveyor has watched with interest the activities of the CCB for some years and decided that the by-election came at a pivotal point in Cromwell’s development, so he decided to run.

“It’s probably the biggest hurdle people come across to put your name out there and run,” he said. 

Wally says he’s not there to make up numbers and fill in some spare time. He’s serious about actively helping to determine the direction the community takes on all the key issues.

“I’m going to have to make time. It’s not just a bit of casual income for me; you need people engaged for the right reasons.” 

Cromwell’s housing affordability crisis is front and centre for the winning candidate. 

“I know things have been discussed in the last few years and things decided, and some people consider the matter put to bed. They think they’ve addressed it, he said.” 

“But housing is going to be an ongoing battle, you can have all the aspirations you like for the town, but if no one can move here and live here, nothing will come to fruition.” 

“Some employers are buying houses to help new employees with the transition. That’s actually happening. That’s the situation we’re in,” he said. 

The replacement of Cromwell’s ageing Memorial Hall with a modern community complex and the time taken to make a decision were also issues that spurred his candidature for the CCB. 

“I think we really dodged a bullet by not renovating the old hall. I mean, it took 17 years not to get that done, he said.” 

“It’s good that the previous community boards did steer in the right direction of getting a new hall.” 

The immediate issue now, he asserted, “is that the new complex has to be built soon as the cost escalates every month construction is delayed.” 

Wally Sanford will sit around the CCB table for his first meeting in March.