South Wairarapa Mayoral Candidates: Getting To The Core Of Council Services

Friday, 29 August 2025, 5:09 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

With ratepayers increasingly focused on cutting “nice-to-haves” from council budgets, Local Democracy Reporting has asked South Wairarapa’s mayoral candidates for their take on “nice-to-haves”, what they see as core council services, and what they will prioritise if elected.

Leah Hawkins When it comes to council spending, we must always separate what is essential from what is “nice-to-have”. 

For me, a nice-to-have project is something that may add vibrancy or interest, but isn’t essential to daily life or the functioning of our district. 

Examples in South Wairarapa might include large scale beautification projects, decorative street features, new barbecues, new recreational facilities, even a newly pavemented car park at the town hall, or funding for events. 

While these may improve how our towns look or feel, we need to be realistic about the implications they have for money that could be spent on infrastructure in our critical time of affordability crisis.

Core council services are the backbone of why councils exist. 

These are the non-negotiables: safe and reliable drinking water, functioning wastewater and stormwater systems, well-maintained roads and assets, rubbish and recycling, community safety, and ensuring our towns are resilient for the future. 

These services affect every household and every business, every day. 

As mayor my priority will be to get the basics right first. 

My policy’s include opening the books to ensure transparency on spending, auditing council operations to cut waste and directing funds where they deliver the most impact, into water, roads, and essential infrastructure. 

Identifying these things still needs to be inclusive and have leadership that listens. South Wairarapa ratepayers need to be engaged. 

Consulting with public about what the trade-offs could be if core infrastructure is the focus, will maintain engagement and trust. 

I believe it is council’s responsibility to safeguard affordability by ensuring every dollar is spent on what matters most. 

For everything else, we just might need to look at alternative ways to fund and support our communities’ nice-to-have projects while we fix critical things like infrastructure. 

Fran Wilde “Nice-to-have” has become a pejorative term, invented by politicians who do not understand local government. 

Unfortunately, we now all use it, despite the fact that amongst local residents and elected councillors, each person’s definition is different. 

My approach is to start with what the council absolutely needs to provide (i.e. core services), then if there is spare capacity look at other provision. 

My definition of a core service is something that has a public good attached to it and cannot be provided by anyone else, normally because it is not profitable. 

This includes a range of physical and social infrastructure (e.g. water/wastewater, roads and playing fields) and services (e.g. civil defence, resilience planning, inward investment promotion). 

My priority will be water/wastewater infrastructure, then other infrastructure and services. 

I do not think the South Wairarapa District Council budget will allow for any so-called “nice-to-have”. 

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

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