Business owners questioned Vincent ward by-election candidates on infrastructure funding, council advocacy and decision-making at a breakfast forum in Alexandra on Friday (February 27).

Close to 40 people attended the event, hosted by Elevate Central, where candidates Nat Jamieson, Louise Van der Voort and Andrew Dowling each gave short introductions before taking part in a moderated question-and-answer session.

Opening the forum, meeting chair Dewald de Beer encouraged participants to make use of the anonymous question system, telling the room it would be “a little bit weird to moderate questions if there’s no questions to moderate”.

Nat kicked things off telling the audience his background was in business rather than local government, outlining a career that included dairy farming in Southland, a long period in sales, and more recently owning a delivery company and a motel in Alexandra.

He said those experiences had given him an understanding of risk, investment and operating through economic uncertainty.

He told attendees he did not consider himself “a local yet”, but said he was committed to engaging with the community if elected.

Louise said her candidacy was shaped by more than two decades working inside Central Otago District Council, including roles in planning, infrastructure, emergency management and economic development.

She said major reforms facing local government risked shifting decision-making away from local communities, and they were a key motivator for her standing.

“All of those changes bring regional focus to decision-making, which takes it out of the hands of local people more,” she said, adding smaller rural districts like Central Otago could be disproportionately affected.

Andrew said his work advising farmers on whole-farm systems through his role with PGG Wrightson had shaped his view of governance.

He said the councillor role was not about day-to-day operations, but oversight, “casting an eye over the business and seeing are we doing the things we should be doing”.

One of the first questions from the floor asked candidates for their views on Local Government New Zealand and whether council membership represented value for money.

Lousie said LGNZ played an important advocacy role, particularly at a time when councils were facing wide-ranging reform.

While she acknowledged the cost, she said collective representation was critical if local government was to influence central government decisions.

Nat said he saw councillors as the link between communities and higher-level decision-making, while Andrew said councils needed to be careful to “cut fat, not muscle” when reviewing spending, arguing LGNZ’s advocacy justified the cost.

Infrastructure funding was another key focus.

Elevate business group president Dewald de Beer, left, with Vincent ward candidates Andrew Dowling, Louise van der Voort and Nat Jamieson. Image: The Central App

Andrew said the council’s existing Long Term Plan provided the framework for prioritising projects and funding, and the task for elected members was to ensure money was used efficiently.

Nat said the Vincent ward faced major infrastructure challenges, including ageing bridges and water assets.

He said growth in Alexandra through subdivision and building activity raised questions about how development could contribute more toward funding local infrastructure.

Louise said infrastructure was funded through rates, debt and development contributions, noting upcoming legislative changes aimed at ensuring growth paid for growth.

She said a core problem was that increasing responsibilities were being placed on councils without changes to how they were funded, placing pressure on ratepayers.

Asked how they would balance community expectations with the legal, commercial and risk realities of running a large organisation, Nat said councillors needed to find a middle ground between what communities wanted and what they needed, through ongoing engagement.

The candidates agreed to respond in writing to further questions submitted through the forum’s QR code system, with responses to be circulated to the wider business network before voting closes at midday on Tuesday, March 3.

Voting papers can be returned via one of the council’s branded orange voting bins – it is now too late to post them.

Those bins are located at the Alexandra Service Centre on Dunorling Street, the council-owned Alexandra Library, Alexandra New World, Alexandra Woolworths, Clyde Night ’n Day and the Omakau supermarket.

As of Friday, 2,602 people had voted – 31.29 per cent of those eligible.

Read more: Catch up on The Central App’s Q and A with all three candidates and One in four votes ahead of candidate meet-and-greet

Watch here: Candidate videos

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