It’s all quiet in Kaikōura, six weeks out from election day on October 11, says Mayor Craig Mackle. 

But he doesn’t expect it to stay that way. 

‘‘I haven’t noticed any billboards going up yet, but it’s coming. It will happen,’’ he said.

Mr Mackle is seeking a third term as Kaikōura mayor, after being first elected to the council in 2013 and then standing for mayor in 2019. 

He said a lot has changed during his time on the council, including modernising council processes.

‘‘The [2016] earthquake was a pretty big shake up. There was virtually nothing in the way of data, which made it hard to access funding.’’ 

Mr Mackle said it has been a busy six years, building relationships with central Government to source grants rather than loans. 

‘‘We’ve had some really cool stuff happen around the town. We’ve got the Wakatu Quay redevelopment kicked off, and the link pathway from West End to Point Kean.

‘‘And the community dug in to put up the funding for footpaths and roading, when [Waka Kotahi] NZTA didn’t give us the funding we wanted.’’ 

Mr Mackle has lived all his live in Kaikōura and his family has been farming in the district for generations. 

His ancestors, the Boyd and Mackle families, came out from Ireland, and walked over from Nelson to Kaikōura to mark out the land. 

Over the last two years, Mr Mackle has enjoyed getting involved with his old school, as Kaikōura High School board of trustees presiding member. 

‘‘It has been great seeing first-hand the talent our young people have got.’’ 

As mayor, he is rarely found in his office, preferring to get out in the community and ‘‘get things done’’. 

‘‘I do struggle with having to go through the processes. I would rather just pick up a shovel and get on with it.’’ 

One thing he has not been able to do since he was re-elected in October 2022 is turn the first sod on the Vicarage Views housing development. 

The project received a $7.8m grant from Kainga Ora in 2022 to help fund the infrastructure to support housing at Vicarage Views, along Ludstone Road, and more housing intensity at Ocean Ridge. 

The council has completed infrastructure works for Vicarage Views, but the developer is waiting for the market to improve before selling sections. 

One thing Mr Mackle has learned during his time on council is the importance of ‘‘listening to understand, not listening to speak’’. 

‘‘If you’re listening to speak, you’re not really listening because you’re too busy thinking about what you’re going to say.’’ 

Mr Mackle is being challenged for the mayoralty by councillor John Diver and Dave Anderson. 

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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