The new mayor of Kaipara is promising to make good on his election promise of a fresh start for the debt-ridden district.
Photo: RNZ
Jason Smith, an economic development graduate and fifth-generation dairy farmer was elected last weekend after former mayor Greg Gent resigned unexpectedly in his first term.
The district had previously spent four years under commissioners, following the Mangawhai sewerage scheme debt fiasco.
Mr Smith said he wants to tackle Kaipara's debt burden by attracting new ratepayers.
"We need to put out a welcome mat for new investment in commercial, industrial and residential land, so new people can come here and make Kaipara a better place," he said.
Kaipara had been slow to prepare for the new wave of people moving north from Auckland, and there was a shortage of vacant sections for homes and businesses, the new mayor said.
"Part of the fresh start I'm proposing is that we have better planning tools in place, good old-fashioned town planning if you like, that opens up more land," Dr Smith said.
"We also need to look at other zoning models, that could allow for collective ownership so the people can remain in the community but can put more houses on their ten-acre lifestyle block, or quarter-acre section," Dr Smith said.
The Ruawai farmer won the Kaipara mayoral race from a field of eight with three leading contenders.
The Electoral Office said it was not meaningful to talk in terms of majorities in an STV (Single transferable vote) election.
But the results show Dr Smith topped the vote throughout seven counts, or iterations.
Former deputy mayor Peter Wethey was runner-up, as the last candidate to be excluded when voters' second and subsequent preferences kicked in.
And the Mangawhai Residents and Ratepayers Chair, Bruce Rogan, was second-to-last to drop off the list, putting him in third place.
Mr Rogan has led the campaign against the former council's illegal borrowing and was recently re-elected as the ratepayers' champion.
But he said he would bow out after this term.
Mr Rogan said he had rung Dr Smith to congratulate him but felt it was a forlorn hope that the council would deal with the underlying problems that needed fixing if Kaipara were to have a future.
"Many decent people have left the Kaipara since this shambles began and they are being replaced by people with no knowledge of what happened, no understanding of how bad things really are and no interest in finding out," Mr Rogan said.
"Nothing could suit the entrenched establishment better."
The ratepayers group is still involved in legal action over rates charged for the Mangawhai sewerage scheme, some of which have been quashed by the High Court.
Jason Smith said the Kaipara council debt stands at $58m and the district has about 7000 rateable properties.
