Wānaka-Upper Clutha's 'change of guard'

The weather’s been unsettled in Wānaka post-election as spring, waving her fickle finger, evokes all the elements she can muster in an hour.

And while the barometer lurches frantically from one side of the dial to the other, there is also a positive, quietly optimistic, current emerging on this side of the Queenstown Lakes District.

The Wānaka-Upper Clutha community voted for a change of guard.

That new guard has been gathering itself, albeit quietly, as both the elected councillors and community board members have yet to be sworn in.

“There’s been a clean-out of incumbents, resulting in a clear mix of experience and new blood, which is exciting,” says Quentin Smith, the most experienced of Wānaka’s councillors, now heading into his fourth term.

Re-elected Community Board chair, Simon Telfer, also anticipates positive prospects as a result of the election.

“We’ve got a mayor that, when he talks about Wānaka, uses the ‘we’ word and not the ‘you’ word, and I think that’s very refreshing.

“I think it’s Wānaka’s time. I think it’s our time to shine. It’s our time to be the focus,” Telfer says.

Niki Gladding, re-elected for a third term as councillor, but representing the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Ward for the first time, is still in a state of disbelief at the results.

“It was massive and I didn’t expect it. I don’t even know what to say.”

“I don’t even know what to say.”

The repetition revealing a modicum of shock.

“If you had caught me the other day, my reaction was just like, You’ve got to be kidding. How can we be this lucky?

“For me, it was a real progressive, I don’t know if that’s the right word, it was a real shift, and I think it’s delivered some really good new blood to the table and particularly in that mayor spot.”

And, as Quentin Smith points out, the change doesn’t end at the ballot box.

“Under a new mayor, and with the appointment of a new CEO, we’re probably facing the most significant change we’ve come across for some time.

“In the very short time since the election, John Glover has already begun to set a new tone for the council – an inclusive and listening approach.” Smith says.

• Quentin Smith, the most experienced of Wānaka’s councillors, now heading into his fourth term.

Does Niki Gladding have any misgivings about, in her words, her ‘flip flop’ decision to stand for council again?

“I think if this team had gotten in and I walked away from it, I would be gutted.

“It would have been like, you know, six years of struggling, and pushing, and learning, and then giving up just as the tide turned.”

Cody Tucker, securing his second term, remains the youngest at the council table and, he too, has also noticed a shift in the culture.

“I’m also quietly optimistic based on a few things already in terms of, you know, certain group chats, and the tone of the new Mayor.

“And the way that people are feeling a bit more supported, and more camaraderie, which is a lot of what I would hope for, and what I wanted to be a part of.

“So, yeah, like I say, I’m secretly excited.”

And publicly?

“Publicly, still processing.” says Tucker.

• Niki Gladding says the election delivered some really good new blood to the council table.

For Gladding, a change in mayor is significant. Initially, she decided not to seek re-election on account of her less-than-satisfactory relationship with the former mayor.

She re-considered, throwing her hat back in the ring, with a good degree of trepidation.

“I was nervous of Glyn getting back in. Obviously, I’d said early on, you know, the two of us should never sit around the same council table, but I stood anyway, in the end.

“But this result is just so different. This means that I can do the job differently.

“Now I can talk to the mayor. If I’ve got an issue with process or, you know, if I’m concerned about something, I can now get the mayor on the phone and have a chat. I mean, that’s just a fundamental difference and I’ve got no doubt that John will do that for everybody, not just for some.”

Nicola King, the new kid on the block, has made a startling entry into the world of local body politics. Attracting 3610 votes, she is the highest polling councillor across the entire QLDC.

“How did it happen?” she repeats my question. “Funny you asked me that ... I think ...”

King , who resides in Hāwea, considers everything carefully before she speaks, a useful attribute in the political arena.

“I think it’s partly due to what people are wanting right now. They’re wanting a bit of change. They’re wanting trust.

“Obviously, there was not a great culture within council and then, potentially, that affects the outcomes. I think they wanted to change that and get some more transparency, and belief in people actually doing things on behalf of them.

“I think the fact that I was born and bred here, they feel that they can trust in that.”

King’s specialised knowledge, gained from her not inconsiderable tertiary qualifications, clearly shapes her powers of assessment.

“I’ve got a Masters in Business Sustainability, and a Degree in Design Communication. Business Sustainability people often think is environmentally focussed, and it’s really not.” she says.

Business Sustainability explores ‘how to manage an organisation while maximising social outcomes, and minimising impacts on the natural environment’. A qualification perfectly suited to the local body arena, one would assume.

With the change in dynamics around the council table, community board chair Simon Telfer thinks they’re in a position to accomplish a few things in Wānaka.

• It’s our time to shine says Wānaka Community Board’s Simon Telfer.

“We’ve got a really good balance on both council and community board of individuals that have got experience now, but also some fresh thinking.

“I think it’s a very progressive board, and the elected members are very progressive.

“I think, within budgetary constraints, I think we’re going to be able to affect quite a bit of change.”

The culture within Wānaka’s community is quite distinct from that in Queenstown. A culture, which Telfer says, attracts a certain kind of person.

He describes that kind of person as, “community minded, engaged, grounded, a real passion for the outdoors, no ego”.

“And a lot of people are coming to the Upper Clutha because it’s more of a community, people are more engaged. It’s less transient.”

Telfer’s agenda for Wānaka isn’t so much driven by ambition. It is, however, informed by what he sees as a few blunders made over the hill.

“We look over at Queenstown and say those are mistakes we don’t want to make.

“You look at wastewater, you look at urban planning, you look at council headquarters, you know, just the rapid growth and the pressure on infrastructure. We do have a little bit of that here. We look at congestion.”

Telfer’s list goes on.

“We look at the ‘Road to Nowhere’. We look at that and go, okay, we need to make sure that we learn from that, and we may be a few years behind in our growth. We are growing rapidly but we don’t want to make the same mistakes that Queenstown’s made.”

This triennium doesn’t look to be plain sailing for either the council or community board. With changes driven by Central Government, and infrastructure shortcomings associated with the pressure from growth, newly elected representatives will be faced with difficult decisions.

As Quentin Smith observes, “There won’t be the usual checks and balances, and probably a conflict of direction under the Fast Track Approvals Act, there’s the Regional Deal, making changes to Three Waters, and the RMA reform, which all means an uncertain direction for council in the next three years.”

How does rookie councillor, Nicola King, view the prospect of her first term?

• Nicola King is a newcomer to the council table.

“I think I’m heading into some challenges because, at the end of the day, a lot of the decisions that we have to make, there’s no fabulous answer.

“You know, there’s no silver bullet to a lot of them.

“There’s so many restrictions from Central Government, from the budget, from just laws and regulations, that I think what you want, what you’d really like to see happen, is going to be really hard to do.

“I know that I’ve got to be in for a really tough ride.”

• Wānaka has faced wild weather since the election.

From the Wānaka-Upper Clutha perspective, Community Board Chair, Simon Telfer, has the last word.

“It is time to recognise that the investment needs to be made here and that those that govern, govern for the whole district and not just for the town whose name happens to be on the district council’s letterhead.”

In the meantime, let’s hope the weather improves.