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Countdown on for council nominations

Countdown on for council nominations

Two sitting councillors and three fresh faces have officially joined the race for a place on the next Ashburton District Council.
Leen Braam and Lynette Lovett have filed their nominations to run for another term while Hayden Tasker, Richard Wilson and Bev Skates have come forward as a new candidates.
With just over a week before nominations close, their names bring the total nominations to nine, with 10 seats needing to be filled or the district will bear the cost of a by-election.
Lovett and Wilson, the son of current councillor Stuart Wilson, are chasing the two vacancies in the Eastern Ward.
Tasker, the son of former councillor Bev Tasker and former deputy mayor Roger Tasker, and Skates join former two-term councillor Russell Ellis in the Ashburton Ward, which has five vacancies to fill.
Carolyn Cameron has indicated she will stand, whereas John Falloon is yet to signal his intentions.
Incumbents Liz McMillan and Rodger Letham are in the running for the two vacancies in the Western Ward.
Mayor Neil Brown is looking likely to run unopposed.
Chris Robertson and Robert Harnett make it three nominations for the Braided Rivers Community Trust, while there have been no nominations for the five Methven Community Board seats.
Ashburton District electoral officer Anthony Morton said that in the event that there are not enough or any nominations to cover the vacancies, those that have been correctly nominated will be declared elected unopposed and no election process is required.
“A by-election process is then started in November to seek candidates for any remaining vacancies,” Morton said.
The organisations requiring by-elections have to meet the costs, he said.
“The cost of the by-elections would largely be determined by the number of nominations subsequently received and whether a voting process was then required.”
Meanwhile in the Environment Canterbury Mid Canterbury/Opakihi ward, incumbent councillors John Sunckell and Ian Mackenzie have filed their nominations.
They join NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers president Peter Trolove as confirmed candidates.

  • By Jonathan Leask