The Far North District Council’s mayoral race has attracted nine candidates.

Local Democracy Reporting Northland asked the candidates what the three main issues facing their district were – and how they would address these if elected.

The mayoral candidates are: Jaqi Brown, Ann Court, Clinton Dearlove, Kevin Middleton, Joshua Riley, Kelly Stratford, Moko Tepania, John Vujcich and Rachel Witana,.
They are among 22 Northlanders putting their hats into the ring to be one of the region’s three new mayors from October 8, in a local government leadership change tsunami.

Local government election voting papers are being posted out from yesterday, with voting under way from then and closing on October 8.

The candidates:

Jaqi Brown – standing as Mayor only

When elected as Mayor of Far North District Council, I will bring my skills, experience and solutions-focused approach to the issues and opportunities in our communities. We have 40 distinct communities across the Far North district, and as we have 30 elected members – one Mayor, 10 district councillors, 19 community board members – my first job will be to build responsive, active relationships between my council/community board teams and the communities we are here to serve. Listening and responding to your ideas, solutions and concerns in a practical and collaborative way. Community voices heard and actioned at the council table.

The three major reforms coming our way, Future for Local Government, Three Waters and the changes to the Resource Management Act, will be on the agenda in the coming term and the new council will need to upskill itself on the changes, navigate clear paths through that will benefit the people and the region. My mahi as your Mayor will be to ensure we have all the information in front of us to make sound decisions, we must look at how our asset holdings company can provide better revenue returns and find new initiatives to ease the burden on the ratepayer. Check out The NZ Infrastructure Strategy – Te Waihanga which looks at the telecommunications, energy, waste and resource recovery, water, transport and social infrastructure sectors now and into the future. It’s a sobering read.

Roading and transport networks are the veins for which our produce, tourists and whanau travel and they are constantly under threat by the climate challenges, heavy vehicles and rising costs. We need to better leverage central government to respond to the challenges and invest in upgrading roading infrastructure. Transit NZ and Tourism New Zealand need to redesignate the road into a state highways to ensure the Twin Coast Discovery route is kept open and safe especially from Kaitaia to Hokianga. We must keep the heartlands pumping.

The increasing impact of the climate on our communities is being felt every day. We have a unique coastline, the longest of any district in the country, we have the longest roading network in the North Island and the most unsealed roads. We must plan for this, and bring on board key stakeholders to work alongside us to come up with solutions and plans.

An open mind, open heart and future-focused: Jaqi Brown for Mayor FNDC

Ann Court – also standing in Bay of Islands-Whangaroa General Ward

The Crown’s insatiable appetite for change is far outstripping your ability as ratepayers to resource and meet the financial burden of the current reform storm! Unless meaningful change occurs, rates affordability will push many to breaking point.

The Rating Act is a blunt instrument that states rates can only be charged on the value of your land, or the value of what sits on your land. Given the Crown and most of its agencies are exempt from rates (yet are high consumers of ratepayer-funded infrastructure), the entire cost burden of meeting these laudable but expensive standards is falling exclusively into the hands of property owners and tenants.

As new regulation compels increasingly higher duties of environmental care, with an associated increased need to address positive social outcomes alongside the horizontal infrastructure to support growth, the current model of funding is causing extreme hardship for many. The answer must lie in a complete rethink and reprioritisation of the work and functions a council undertakes alongside a comprehensive funding model review. Whilst work is already under way in this space with a review for the future of local government’s services and rates, continued public engagement and advocacy in this space is fundamental to ensuring a workable solution is reached for all.

Understanding and planning for growth is key to the Far North District Council’s new Proposed District Plan, currently out for submission. It raises some fundamental questions the community will need to consider and submit on. Examples of these questions include where should growth occur given factors such as addressing climate change including achieving the emission reduction goals, provision of horizontal infrastructure, avoiding hazards such as flood zones, protection of significant natural landscapes and versatile soils.

FNDC’s pre-election report reveals the cost of improving the district’s water, wastewater, stormwater and roading networks to support the zoning provisions of the Proposed District Plan, alongside meeting new central government environmental and health standards to enable housing, is estimated at somewhere north of $660m. With FNDC debt forecast to hit its limit within the next triennium, 60 per cent of our land unrateable, 72,600 people and only 41, 064 rating units we have some significant challenges ahead.

As the face of local government changes over the next three years, it is critical that your new council is an effective voice for the Far North. The answer lies in hardworking candidates who put the community at the heart of every decision.

Clinton Dearlove – also standing in Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward

My name is Clinton Dearlove and I am third generation Norwegian New Zealander on my dad’s side (he is 92 this year) and a descendant of Ngapuhi nui tonu on my mum’s side. I am currently studying my Master in Education through Massey University. I have an BSc (Hons) in microbiology from Otago University and attended Auckland Medical School where I gained a Bachelor of Human Biology and chose not to complete my MBChB. For the last 20 years I have taught maths and science in kura kaupapa and area schools in the Far North, my last job being at Northland College Kaikohe.

The three main issues facing the residents of the Far North for the coming election are SNAs, Three Waters and creating resilience and support for the farming and the small business sector. Three Waters, if anything, has placed the spotlight on what many of Far North residents have been saying for a while – that the system is outdated. Though I am not a proponent of centralisation of resources, I do recognise the financial burden that will be placed on Far North ratepayers, and feel at least on the surface of things central funding and much-needed investment into our wastewater, sewerage and drinking water infrastructure is sorely needed. Northland led New Zealand’s biggest local response against SNAs and that defiant energy is still with us. If anyone knows about Crown land theft, it’s tangata whenua. As Mayor I will not be a party to theft by legislation.

Global issues have devastated our communities, Covid-19 and climate change being at the forefront. Central government’s global climate change concessions have placed undue pressure on our farming community. Our small businesses have felt the full brunt of Covid-19 and weather bombs that have severed Far North roads and lines of communication. .

I believe creating relationships with universities, industry, business, hapu and iwi collectives, NGOs and central government will enable the Far North to lead the provinces in growth. By diversifying our capacity through research and development, tapping into the $360 billion space industry, expanding the “green” tourism dollar and marketing the experience that is the Far North, then we will grow.

Kevin Middleton – standing as Mayor only

I am standing for the role of Mayor for the Far North District Council.

Our New Zealand Government has determined we need to change a few things to better reflect our options for a far better environment here in the Far North.

In part it’s investment in population/business support, in part it’s progress speed, in part it’s communication in our democratic abilities.

Having council involvement to those effects will guarantee we have expert investment on the scale required to move the Far North into a more modern, healthy and cleaner environment and not left idle to be dealt with in another generation having to deal with the same old same old which has not worked here in the Far North.

From experience just dealing with council staff attitudes/bylaws that are out of date needs a fresh look. It does nothing for clients who require certainty from those in positions of influence.

As a farmer we have to provide 100 per cent care to any animal that we look after and the current animal welfare bylaws/dog control/staff under council will be adapted to suit a more modern society and accountability.

Doing nothing is not a doable option.

I live in the Far North, I would like an opportunity to represent my home.

Joshua Riley – also standing in Te Hiku General Ward

As our council borrows more and more money from LGFA, it needs to make sure its annual report appears as if the debt burden on the council is reasonable. It provides information on debt to income to do this. But what happens if the council has borrowed too much? For the council, it’s simple: raise rates. By doing so, its debt to income ratio looks much better on paper, but who pays the price?

Private businesses cannot simply snap their fingers and add income to their balance sheets. But, via rates, our council does exactly this. When home prices fall, your rates will not – because they are underpinning growing council debt. The worst part is that much of this is “green lending” which cannot be used on infrastructure. It’s time to bring back financial accountability.

2. Many will remember the recent attempt by the council to designate many properties as “Significant Natural Areas” via its Proposed District Plan. The pushback we saw was extraordinary and resulted in the council relenting with many of its proposed SNAs. This was an attempt to diminish the rights of use and enjoyment a person has over their land. The council has also painted enormous swathes of land as “Outstanding Natural Landscape” (ONL) areas. When doing so, the land becomes unusable for agriculture and comes with significant restrictions to building a home. The council gave little to no regard to the millions of dollars in loss created via diminished property value and restrictions of use. I will vote against these designations and will fight to roll back previously designated areas.

3. The takeover of our assets by central government for pennies on the dollar should have seen more resistance from our council. The Whangarei District Council, along with two other councils, challenged the government on the grounds that Three Waters assets were bought and paid for by ratepayers and therefore should not be acquired without proper compensation. I fully agree with the Auditor General’s parliamentary submission on Three Waters:

“Overall, I am concerned that, as currently drafted in the Bill, the accountability arrangements and potential governance weaknesses, combined with the diminution in independent assurance noted earlier, could have an adverse effect on public accountability, transparency, and organisational performance.”

The lack of accountability will ensure our Three Waters infrastructure deteriorates and that we will pay more for water services. It’s a lose–lose situation which I will fight if elected Mayor.

6. Kelly Stratford – also standing in Bay of Islands-Whangaroa General Ward

The council has a role to play with housing. Our district has a major infrastructure housing deficit, we need more homes and we simply don’t have the wastewater and water capacity to accommodate. There are two community housing projects, in Kaikohe and in Kawakawa, that will not only help address the housing need, but also allow for development through successfully receiving the housing acceleration fund.

I would continue to support this work as it will assist the council to provide new infrastructure and capacity for further development. I will continue to support Far North Holdings focusing more on housing development. I will also keep supporting improvements in FNDC resource consent processing times, and maintain support for FNDC’s building consents team processing on average, 100 per cent of consent applications within the 20-day limit.

Climate change is not something everyone thinks is affecting them. However, we only need to reflect on recent weather events including the impacts severe rain has had on roads and the sewage overflows that continue to impact on our kaimoana and flooding which thankfully has not damaged homes to the extent it has in recent years. There have been impacts for farming with flooded pastures impacting ability to graze, damage to fencing, loss of baleage and dry feed, landslides and underslips impacting fiords, accessways and waterways. Also interruption to the transport of milk tankers, farmers have had to dump supply. I would continue to support projects that address stormwater, continue to collaborate with Northland Regional Councillors and Northland Civil Defence to plan and execute flood mitigation projects. I would also continue collaborative work toward adaptation.

Drought resilience projects at Kaitaia and Kaikohe are just two of the infrastructure projects FNDC has managed to progress this triennium. These benefit housing development and economic development. They enable the horticulture industry to have certainty of supply for planning new business. I would continue to keep drought resilience at the forefront of decision making when planning and working with my colleagues to allocate budget.

Recovery from Covid – Covid-19 has affected us and continues to, in varying ways. Economists forecast that our GDP will bounce back around 2023. We need to support recovery that strengthens relationships, enables resilience in our economy and local business and leverages non-profit organisations’ initiatives.

Moko Tepania – also standing in Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward

It is no easy feat to reduce the many issues affecting the Far North to only three. As Mayor, I will genuinely engage with our communities and take action for positive solutions on all issues to ensure our district thrives. Three of the main issues I see are:

Affordability – ever-increasing costs are affecting households, businesses and council itself. As Mayor, I will be a champion for the Far North to ensure we get our fair share of funding from central government. We need to ensure our infrastructure and services are up to standard. I will also lead a comprehensive and sensible review of all council activities, keeping rate increases to an absolute minimum.

Service delivery – everyone who lives in the Far North deserves adequate, timely and responsive service from council. When a request is put through – be it for help with a funding application, consents, animal control, drain blockages, illegally dumped rubbish or potholes -council must address it much more efficiently than the month-long average currently taken. That is unacceptable. As Mayor, I will ensure that the CEO has outcomes the organisation must meet and that we have proactive service delivery for our communities.

Transport network resilience – whenever a storm hits, the communities that make up the Far North become isolated islands. At the time of writing, we currently have over 20,000 people who are cut off from accessing the rest of the district and the country via State Highway 1 and have to use alternative routes, both of which are also highly prone to significant weather events. This is unsustainable for our district, for the flow of goods and services and hugely affects people’s lives and their livelihoods. As Mayor, I will ensure that central government injects the funding we need to bring our state highways up to standard. I will also push for an alternative western state highway route so that our local roads have funding to allow our communities to reconnect. We know flooding mitigation projects work. I will push to ensure crucial projects get over the line so that our transport network is resilient.

We want homes to live in, jobs to work at, businesses to support and a council that delivers. I will dedicate myself as Mayor to achieve this.

8. John Vujcich – also standing in Kaikohe-Hokianga General Ward

1. Communities facing hardship and lacking resilience: Several external factors, the pandemic aftermath, rising costs and climate change pressures are all adding to our people’s ability to pay rates and thrive. I would seek pragmatic and innovative solutions to council infrastructure and services, reduce unnecessary waste and expenditure and help make rates affordable and equitable. This requires a workable and realistic Long Term Plan linked with an associated financial strategy, Infrastructure strategy, and asset management plan. I would also seek to prudently manage council debt levels as well as strive to hold rates, fees and charges to current inflation or below and enhance operational efficiency. We must reinstate development contributions and establish other funding sources like the innovation and enterprise park. Also, I would complete the long term asset funding initiative seeking to establish affordable rating for assets to match community affordability and wellbeing aspirations.

2. Loss of local government and democratic wellbeing: Government’s mandated centralisation of several services and functions plus the review of local government will likely mean FNDC’s amalgamation into a larger entity further removed from local communities. I would empower local communities and community boards along the principles of localism, giving communities resources, delegated responsibilities and governance decisions over services and issues that affect their communities. This is key to creating thriving, sustainable and resilient communities and delivering better representation and community wellbeing. It can be done through the current legislation that relates to community boards. Their community plans and priorities would be formally developed and included in council’s Long Term Plan for each community of interest. Progress and total costing would be made available through the community boards, showing the council’s progress in delivery to their plan.

3. Improving council performance and governance: Providing affordable vital services and timely delivery of its services to its communities is challenging. It takes strong, skilled and united governance teams to implement a clear vision and strategy that ensures the desires of all ratepayers are heard and actioned. Good governance reduces risk and costs and enhances performance. I would focus on improving governance through training elected members in governance skills. Key council committees can be used to improve governance, by appointing skilled and experienced people in areas where the council is weak. This would improve council governance and our ability to deliver operational excellence, driving a culture of service, empowering staff to focus on delivery and generally improving staff wellbeing.

Rachel Witana – also standing in Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward

Roading is the giant challenge under current central-to-local government funding ratios and funding models. It cannot be looked at in isolation. The 2019 NZ Productivity Commission report on Local Government funding and financing speaks to this. There are four key pressures that are going to affect roads. Central government should co-fund some of these pressures.

The costs of doing so are too difficult to estimate, but by far the largest item will be support for council infrastructure at risk from climate change in the order of $150m a year over 20 years.

Options for addressing other infrastructure issues and growth include volumetric wastewater charging, road-congestion pricing and legal clarity around targeted rates for value capture.

The Crown should pay its way. It should cover the costs of council services to Crown property and development contributions on its developments. There should be protocols to avoid future unfunded Crown mandates.

International tourists provide revenue at least equal to their costs, but not directly to councils. Central government councils’ tourism funding is justified but should be better targeted.

A national legal framework for climate change adaptation is urgently required, as well as for science and guidance. There should also be central government co-funding for at-risk council infrastructure.

As Mayor, I would commence by collaborating with central government and civil engineers, drawing on other experts in this field to begin auditing New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit. This would include main routes/highways and rural regions’ roads as well.

Three Waters issues relate to a lack of transparency. More information needs to be provided given the Three Waters infrastructure deficits and the management of water treatment and supply. More importantly it is about water quality. Water needs to be evaluated as part of integrated sustainable design relating to energy, food security, water, waste management, education, lighting and required technologies. As the Mayor this is what I will promote.

I have an overarching interest in sustainability in terms of te ao Māori and care for the ecology at all levels across the Far North. There is no justification for any seepage of toxic fluids into the land or sea. We will need to discuss waste problems, the amount of waste produced and how it is currently collected and treated.

As Mayor, I will create a digital network of projects for conservation and protecting natural culture and heritage here in the Far North. This will include water quality and preservation, biodiversity and pest control and waste minimisation and management.

• Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air