I’m standing for the Wairewa community board position in the Christchurch City Council election, covering the stunning Little River and Birdlings Flat townships and surrounding areas as I am keen to be a strong advocate for the area and have our local concerns and interests well represented at the council level. Our community has felt overlooked or unheard at the local government level on many issues such as flooding protection measures, speed limit changes, dairy intensification by the lake etc. As a community board member I would do my best to make sure our unique combination of concerns and interests are brought to the table at council wherever possible. Likewise I would love to champion proactive causes and efforts for the region where there might be avenues for the council to support local initiatives and businesses.

• Flood prevention measures - there are some great initiatives being undertaken by a number of various parties on this and I believe it is imperative that the council does their part to co-ordinate and support these wherever possible

• Speed limit changes - I know many in the community have been outraged at the feeling of a false consultation process regarding the speed limit going down to 80. While the council may have limited influence in this regard with NZTA having greater control over the designated highways, I would make sure the local viewpoint was strongly communicated in such matters as they come up. I personally believe some change would have been reasonable, but a little more nuance and care could have been taken not to have an outcome that isolates people on the peninsula to the additional degree that the existing blanket changes have.

• Dairy intensification by our damaged lakes - I think business should be able to operate freely wherever reasonable, but the recent granting of resource consent without public notification for a building to house 1000-2000 extra dairy cows right by lake Ellesmere which as a lake has been under significant stress from farming to the point it is generally not swimmable seems a little short sighted. Personally I'm not in opposition to dairy farming in general, but that escalation of stress upon our precious and fragile lakes is something I would not support.

My ties to Banks Peninsula go back over 30 years and I currently am proud to live in the wonderful town of Little River. I have a degree in Information Systems and currently balance a number of roles in my primary job across account management, sales, software development and technical support. A good example of my general determination is the fact that while not built for running I've managed a 2k run or more every day this decade so far through injury, covid and other challenging life events.