John Robertson overlooks Te Kuiti
John Robertson hopes to open a multi-million-dollar business park at Te Kūiti Aerodrome during his third term as Waitomo mayor.
Fat Pigeon owner Melanie Simpson congratulates John Robertson on his win and shouted him a coffee.
Robertson, who spent Saturday morning dosing sheep as he awaited election results, beat incumbent councillor Janette Osborne and newcomers Richard Ross and Natasha Willison-Reardon to retain the district’s top job.
“It was a good get out,” he said of his morning on the farm.
Robertson, who invited The News for a chat in the afternoon at the Fat Pigeon Café in Piopio, is waiting to hear about an $18 million application made to the Regional Development Fund to help finance a business park between the airstrip and State Highway 3.
“Te Kūiti is full up in King Street with business and industry such as trucking firms,” Robertson said. “It would be good if that part of town could be residential.”
Robertson is hoping the application will produce cash to start the process of making the 15-hectare council-owned site ready for public-private partnerships with industry alongside several aircraft hangers already on the site.
“Te Kūiti has not got enough industrial land,” Robertson said.
He has not had an easy ride as mayor.
The pandemic took a good proportion of his first term online.
John Robertson, Natasha Willison-Reardon, Janette Osborne, Richard Ross
His second term was impacted by two major storms resulting in multimillion dollar spends on district roads and ended with the fatal shooting of fugitive father Tom Phillips.
“For me it was emotionally charged with a lot of different emotions that went up and down,” he said.
Robertson is no stranger to public life, serving as mayor of Papakura, Auckland, in the 2004-07 term, and chair of commissioners for Kaipara District Council from 2012-16.
The final makeup of Waitomo District Council was hanging in the balance as The News went to press, with one vote between incumbent Waitomo Rural Ward candidates Gavin Todd and Janette Osborne.
In preliminary results released Monday, Todd received 671 votes to Osborne’s 670. Newcomer Olivia Buckley was the highest polling candidate in the rural ward, followed by last term’s deputy mayor Allan Goddard. Natasha Willison-Reardon and Nichola Painter missed out.
“With special votes still to be counted that one vote might make all the difference,” Osborne said.
“I knew there was a risk of losing councillor votes by also standing for mayor, but I wanted to demonstrate my ongoing commitment to continue the work I’ve been doing over the past three years.”
Regardless of the outcome Osborne said she would continue rates benchmarking to understand the areas where council is out of kilter with rates.
“I live on a gravel road that spans across both Waitomo and Ōtorohanga Districts – same road – very different rates – even when it comes to the roading portion of the rates. Very keen to drill down to the why.”
Newcomer Olivia Buckley said she intended to approach her first term with a focus on learning.
“My goal is to become well-acquainted with the legislation and council procedures to effectively facilitate positive change.”
Incumbent Eady Manawaiti was the highest polling Te Kūiti Ward candidate where Dan Tasker and newcomer Isaiah Wallace were also elected.
Ata Te Kanawa, Ross O’Halloran and Faye Thomas also stood in the ward.
John Robertson overlooks Te Kuiti
