The Nelson Citizens Alliance was formed in April 2021 by a group of concerned Nelson ratepayers, sick and tired of the Nelson City Council making decisions without taking enough time to gain the views of ratepayers affected by those decisions. In many instances minimal advertising and short time frames for making submissions on very important issues became the standard way that council consulted.
These decisions, to name a few, included the introduction of a Maori Ward for Nelson, supporting the Ardern government’s 3 Waters reforms being mandated, selling 120 pensioner housing flats to Kaianga Ora for a $2M pittance, proceeding with a $40M new library development on a site that sits on the flood plain adjacent to the Maitai River, and agreeing to social housing being erected in the heart of Nelson’s business and commercial area. There are others I could comment about!
When the current council was elected three years ago, the mayor made the bold statement that the newly elected council would get beyond all the infighting that had occurred in the period 2017–2019 and would, in future, represent the interests and concerns of all of the people of Nelson in a competent and professional manner.
Of course, we know that is absolutely the opposite of what has occurred over the past three years and we now have a council that is not only totally dysfunctional but is dominated by the influence of central government politics. Three current councillors have strong Green Party affiliations and one councillor is the chairperson of the Nelson Labour Party Electorate. This has caused huge problems at the council table in getting decisions made harmoniously and council is now divided into seperate and opposing camps, which cannot be allowed to continue. Change must be made at the Local Body Elections on 8 October 2022. We have strategic plan for action over the next five months and it is now operational.
To achieve that change we need good people to now put their hands up and come forward to be considered as candidates that the Nelson Citizens Alliance will support. I make the point STRONGLY here that we are NOT a group representing any political party; in fact, we do not support the idea of party politics playing any part at local government level.
If you believe that the future of Nelson must be managed by democratic minded people and you would be interested in hearing more about being a candidate, we want to hear from you.
If selected, we will manage your election campaign, including all publicity, arranging of public meetings and help train you for the role. Age is not a factor—we are more interested in people who want to represent ratepayers and believe in the importance of making decisions democratically.
The first point of contact for you is the Alliance’s email address [email protected] to which you should send your name and contact details. Following which I will be in touch. Please do that before 31 May 2022.
As our motto suggests “Working Together Gets Better Results” and it is the only way forward for a better Nelson. Hope you agree!
