A last-minute flurry of nominations from people seeking council and community board seats in October’s local body elections has delighted Central Otago District mayor Tim Cadogan.

“At the start of today [Friday August 12] we were looking at the potential of by-elections. I think it’s great news we’ve got a lot of candidates putting their hands up.”

Tim says it’s important for local people to take an interest as changes ahead will directly affect them.

“It’s a time of massive change in local government in New Zealand and we need the best possible people around our council and community board tables to get Central Otago and our communities in the best position through those changes.”

He said Central Otago represented only .5 per cent of New Zealand’s population so its people had to be smart about how they dealt with the coming changes.

Three Waters and local government reforms plus the review of the Resource Management Act would all bring big changes through the coming three-year term.

“We really, really need to be future focused on this. It’s a matter of taking an interest, reading the profiles of the candidates and getting to election meetings and hearing them speak.”    

Interest had appeared low in the weeks leading up to nominations closing but by the midday cut-off today both Cromwell and Maniototo Community Boards had four candidates for four vacancies and Vincent and Teviot boards had five candidates for four vacancies.

The mayoralty will remain uncontested but no fewer than 18 candidates will contest the 11 council seats.

There are also now four candidates for the four Central Otago Health Inc seats. This body represents the interests of the community and is the sole shareholder of Central Otago Health Services Ltd which operates Dunstan Hospital. 

A full list of all candidates can be viewed here: Nominations (electionz.com)

The election will be held via a postal vote with documents being sent out the week of September 16. Election day is Saturday October 8 with preliminary results being announced from midday.