Central Otago’s Deputy Mayor for the past 15 years Neil Gillespie, also a district councillor since 2001, has decided to throw his hat in the ring for a seat at the Otago Regional Council.

Announcing his intention to stand at this year’s election for a position on the Dunstan ward, he said the timing was right, given his recent change of employment.

Neil left Contact Energy in January 2025 after 47 years in the electricity generation industry to work in his own consultancy business, and has been looking at other opportunities within the region as well.

Given his vast experience in resource management through his role as chair of the Central Otago District Council Hearings Panel and at Contact Energy, the ORC was the perfect fit.

As a regional councillor, the governance role largely covered environmental decisions relating to water, air and land use activities, whilst district councillors made decisions on infrastructure and services, assets and overall community wellbeing.

Gary Kelliher and Michael Laws along with Alexa Forbes currently represented the Dunstan ward of the Otago Regional Council, which was being extended to four seats next term, but Queenstown-based Alexa has already announced she won’t be standing again.

That could mean three Central Otago-based elected members all representing Dunstan if Neil was voted in - including two from Cromwell.

In our election coverage, we will look at who was intending on standing again this October from the district council, in both councillor and community board roles, as well as any other new surprises for candidacy in the ORC.

Neil said while he’d always had a leaning towards the regional council, he was unable to stand while working for Contact Energy, as it was too much of a conflict.

Regarding his time as Deputy Mayor and district councillor, in the last two terms he always said there was a lot of work that experienced elected members needed to do, "but i can’t keep saying that. Now i have the capacity to consider the ORC and i have that experience in what they do.”

Looking back over his 27 years, Neil said it was about doing the right things for people, in a balanced way that best reflected the “big picture” views of the community.

“I’ve always said that I got involved in local government so I could be part of the team that would ensure Cromwell/Central Otago would be a place in the future that would be able to provide future generations with opportunities that my family benefited from.”

“But I have done my time and now it’s time for something else in my life.”

Mayor Tamah Alley has already put her name forward to be elected, and word on the street is there may be two others joining her, so then the next big question is, who will be the deputy?