2022 Hastings District Council election

2022 Hastings District Council election

8 October 2022
Turnout	15,616 (33.7%)
Mayoral election
Candidate Sandra Hazlehurst Affiliation None Popular vote unopposed
Mayor before election Sandra Hazlehurst Independent Elected mayor Sandra Hazlehurst Independent
Council election
All 15 ward seats on the Hastings District Council
Affiliation Seats Change   Independents 14 0   Te Pāti Māori 1 1
Popular vote share of winning councillors by ward

The 2022 Hastings District Council election was a local election held from 15 September to 8 October in the Hastings District of New Zealand as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters elected the mayor of Hastings and 15 district councillors for the 2022–2025 term of the Hastings District Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.

Key dates

Key dates relating to the local election were as follows:

15 July	Candidate nominations opened
12 August	Candidate nominations closed and electoral roll closed
17 August	Candidates announced
16–18 September	Voting papers sent out
16 September–8 October	Voting opened
8 October	Election day - voting closed at noon. Preliminary results released
13 October	Official results released

Background

Representation

Following the representation review, the suburb of Flaxmere lost one of its two council seats. Some residents of the suburb were not happy about this; one resident told Hawke's Bay Today that "I think Flaxmere is actually growing, so it should probably be more".

Campaign

Unopposed contests

Many wards, particularly those in rural areas, saw their elections uncontested as the number of candidates was equal to the number of vacancies. One resident of rural Hastings told Hawke's Bay Today that it was a "shame", referring to the mayoral race, regional council race, and district council races in his area all being uncontested.

Flaxmere general ward

One resident of Flaxmere told Hawke's Bay Today said that it was "nice to see" Pasifika and Māori candidates standing for the ward.

Hastings-Havelock North general ward

Incumbents

Incumbent councillors Malcolm Dixon, Damon Harvey, Eileen Lawson, and Simon Nixon ran for re-election.

Dixon pointed to his 4 decades in education and his involvement with various community interest boards and trusts as a reason voters should elect him. Dixon said he was running to give back to the community. He listed the diversity and vibrancy of the ward as a reason he thought it was special. His most important issues was people struggling in the community, including the homeless. He said the council should open up land to increase housing, though not at the cost of the Heretaunga Plains but rather densification. He said that councils should put pressure on central government to help create pathways for youth that end up on the dole.

Harvey told the New Zealand Herald that people should vote for him because of his connections to the community that he's developed over 20 years of working in the city as a businessman and through running his business magazine. He said he had lived in both Flaxmere and Havelock North, and that he loved how diverse the city had become. He said a key issue was balancing the tension between housing people and avoiding encroaching on the fertile plains that surround the city; he supported building apartments. He said that the food industry and the youth of the district were important to invest into.

Lawson said she was a "really experienced" councillor and that people should vote for her because she could think "strategically" and "practically". She was running again because she had more work to do, saying that the city was improving and that she was excited about that. She said that looking after the environment whilst managing economic growth was an important issue and that working on youth employment and education was important for the region's industry. Ensuring good housing in the district was important for her and working on opportunities and education for the youth of the district was her top priority.

Nixon said people should vote for him because he had trained as an economist and had had "quite" senior jobs at several large companies. He had been an orchardist and a local business owner as well, so he had a breadth of experience in his view. He was running again because he thought he could make a "real" difference. He said that the ward was special because it "dominates" the district and the wider Hawke's Bay region in terms of population and commercial activity. He pointed to Three Waters as a big issue because he thought it would cost the council a lot. He said he was not "totally convinced" about the climate issue but that the council should do something; public transport needed to be improved as part of this (though public transport is a regional council issue). Rates increases were a big issue for him.

Other candidates

Other candidates included Rizwaana Latiff, Gilly Lawrence, and Rion Roben.

Latiff was a nurse, midwife, and community volunteer who moved to New Zealand in 2000 from South Africa; she also ran in 2019 where she placed 9th. She lived in Mahora and praised the ward for its diversity in terms of ethnicity and age. She said the biggest issues facing the ward were housing and climate change. She said she had experience working with the council and central government.

Lawrence was a photography and film lighting specialist, the chairperson of the Eastern Screen Alliance. He said he was not very special, that he was not a politician, and that people should vote for him to bring a different voice. He grew up in Waimārama but had moved to Auckland for work; he later moved back to Hawke's Bay 18 years prior to the election. He said he was running because it was new to him and it was out of his comfort zone and that it was exciting and challenging to learn all about interacting with the community. He said creating opportunities for young people was the ward's biggest issue, along with safe and affordable housing. Ensuring water safety was important for him as well as the cost of living.

Roben, who liked playing board games, was running to bring a different voice to the council, one representative of working families rather than business. He had run in a previous election but did not win. He praised the economic growth and diversity of the ward and was concerned most about water issues, saying he supported some of the proposals of the Three Waters reforms but had concerns around the roll out. He said he wanted to improve the nightlife in the city, and that cost of living was a key issue. He supported funds going towards artists local to the region and he wanted to improve parks in the district.

Vaccinations

Harvey, Lawson, and Roben said they had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and were pro-vaccine. Gilly Lawrence said he had been vaccinated but that he was pro-choice on the issue.

Māori wards

Dixon was in favour of Māori wards.

List of candidates

Mayor

Candidate	Photo	Affiliation		Notes
Sandra Hazlehurst			None	Incumbent mayor

Councillors

Flaxmere general ward

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Victoria Fuata'i		None
Henry Heke		None
Michael Ngahuka		Mike for Flaxmere
Marcelle Raheke		None

Hastings/Havelock North general ward

Candidate	Photo	Affiliation		Notes
Sayeed Ahmed			None
Alex Cameron			People and place - He tāngata, he wāhi
Malcolm Dixon			None	Incumbent councillor, former principal of Frimley Primary.
Michael Fowler			None
Damon Harvey			None	Local business owner and incumbent councillor.
Rizwaana Latiff			None	Nurse and midwife who also ran in 2019.
Gilly Lawrence			None	Photography and lighting specialist.
Eileen Lawson			None	Incumbent councillor.
Simon Nixon			None	Incumbent councillor.
Melanie Petrowski			None
Kim Priest			None
Rion Roben			None	Board game enjoyer, had previously ran for election.
Wendy Schollum			Delivering housing and employment
Kevin Watkins			None

Heretaunga general ward

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Alwyn Corban		None
Ann Redstone		None

Kahurānaki general ward

Candidate	Photo	Affiliation		Notes
Marcus Buddo			None
John Roil			A strong voice for Kahuranaki

Mōhaka general ward

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Tania Kerr		None

Takitimu Māori ward

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Dallas Adams		None
Ana Apatu		None
Hohepa Cooper		None
Kiri Goodspeed		None
Sarah Greening-Smith		Independent
Kellie Jessup		Consult, Create & Execute
Renata Nepe		Te Pāti Māori

Rural community board members

Poukawa community subdivision

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Lilly Lawson		None
Vicki Scoular		None

Tūtira community subdivision

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Abby Morley		None

Kaweka community subdivision

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Isabelle Crawshaw		None

Maraekākaho community subdivision

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Jonathan Stockley		None

Flaxmere licensing trustees

Candidate	Affiliation		Notes
Martha Greening		None
Chrissy Hokianga		None
Bronwen Hopkins		None
Warwick Howie		None
Farley Keenan		None
Bert Lincoln		None

Results

Mayor

Sandra Hazlehurst was re-elected unopposed.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Sandra Hazlehurst	unopposed

Council

Summary

There were six new councillors elected and nine incumbent councillors re-elected.

Electorate	Incumbent		Elected
Flaxmere		Henare O'Keefe (Ind.)		Henry Heke (Ind.)
		Peleti Oli (Labour)	abolished
Hastings-Havelock North general ward		Malcolm Dixon (Ind.)
		Damon Harvey (Ind.)
		Eileen Lawson (Ind.)
		Simon Nixon (Ind.)
		Wendy Schollum (Ind.)
		Kevin Watkins (Ind.)
		Bayden Barber (Ind.)		Michael Fowler (Ind.)
		Geraldine Travers (Ind.)	abolished
Heretaunga general ward		Alwyn Corban (Ind.)
		Ann Redstone (Ind.)
Kahuranāki general ward		Sophie Siers (Ind.)		Marcus Buddo (Ind.)
Mōhaka general ward		Tania Kerr (Ind.)
Takitimu Māori ward	new			Ana Apatu (Ind.)
	new			Kellie Jessup (Ind.)
	new			Renate Nepe (TPM)

Flaxmere general ward

Henry Heke was elected defeating second-place Michael Ngahuka.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Henry Heke	376	40.69
	Mike for Flaxmere	Michael Ngahuka	279	30.19
	None	Marcelle Raheke	156	16.88
	None	Victoria Fuata'i	85	9.20
Informal			7	0.76
Blank			21	2.27
Turnout			924

Hastings-Havelock general ward

Eileen Lawson was re-elected, topping the poll. Wendy Schollum, Malcolm Dixon, Kevin Watkins, Damon Harvey, and Simon Nixon were also re-elected. Michael Fowler was the sole newly-elected councilor from the ward.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Eileen Lawson	7,135	62.05
	Delivering housing and employment	Wendy Schollum	7,027	61.11
	None	Malcolm Dixon	6,530	56.79
	None	Michael Fowler	6,508	56.60
	None	Kevin Watkins	6,086	52.93
	None	Damon Harvey	5,234	45.52
	None	Simon Nixon	4,749	41.30
	None	Rizwaana Latiff	3,585	31.18
	None	Melanie Petrowski	3,221	28.01
	None	Gilly Lawrence	2,614	22.73
	None	Rion Roben	2,601	22.62
	People and place - He tāngata,he wāhi	Alex Cameron	2,422	21.06
	None	Sayeed Ahmed	2,187	19.02
	None	Kim Priest	2,140	18.61
Informal			24	0.21
Blank			56	0.49
Turnout			11,498

Heretaunga general ward

Alwyn Corban and Ann Redstone were re-elected unopposed.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Alwyn Corban	unopposed
	None	Ann Redstone	unopposed

Kahurānaki general ward

Incumbent rural community board member Marcus Buddo defeated John Roil.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Marcus Buddo	882	55.72
	A Strong Voice for Kahuranaki	John Roil	687	43.34
Informal			0	0.00
Blank			14	0.88
Turnout			1,583

Mōhaka general ward

Tania Kerr was re-elected unopposed.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Tania Kerr	unopposed

Takitimu Māori ward

Ana Apatu topped the poll as a newly elected councillor in the new Māori ward. Kellie Jessup and Renata Nepe were also newly-elected.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Ana Apatu	963	60.15
	Consult, Create & Execute	Kellie Jessup	776	48.47
	Te Pāti Māori	Renata Nepe	666	41.60
	None	Dallas Adams	549	34.29
	Independent	Sarah Greening-Smith	438	27.36
	None	Kiri Goodspeed	388	24.23
	None	Hohepa Cooper	318	19.86
Informal			0	0.00
Blank			0	0.00
Turnout			1,601

Rural community board

Summary

Electorate	Incumbent		Elected
Kaweka community subdivision		Nick Dawson (Ind.)		Isabelle Crawshaw (Ind.)
Maraekākaho community subdivision		Jonathan Stockley (Ind.)
Poukawa community subdivision		Marcus Buddo (Ind.)		Vicki Scoular (Ind.)
Tūtira community subdivision		Sue Maxwell (Ind.)		Abby Morley (Ind.)
Mōhaka general ward		Tania Kerr (Ind.)
Kahurānaki general ward		Sophie Siers (Ind.)		Marcus Buddo (Ind.)
Takitimu Māori ward	new			Ana Apatu (Ind.)

Poukawa community subdivision

Vicki Scoular defeated Lilly Lawson to be elected as the community board member for the Poukawa community.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Vicki Scoular	505	48.84
	None	Lilly Lawson	417	40.33
Informal			0	0.00
Blank			112	10.83
Turnout			1,034

Flaxmere licensing trust

Summary

Incumbent		Elected
	missing info		Martha Greening (Ind.)
			Chrissy Hokianga (Ind.)
			Bronwen Hopkins (Ind.)
			Warwick Howie (Ind.)
			Farley Keenan (Ind.)
			Bert Lincoln (Ind.)

Details

All six trustees were elected unopposed.

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	None	Martha Greening	unopposed
	None	Chrissy Hokianga	unopposed
	None	Bronwen Hopkins	unopposed
	None	Warwick Howie	unopposed
	None	Farley Keenan	unopposed
	None	Bert Lincoln	unopposed

Aftermath

For broader coverage of this topic, see 2022–2025 term of the Hastings District Council.

The new council and rural community board were sworn in on 3 November at Waipatu Marae. Mayor Hazlehurst told those gathered at the marae that "we are incredibly proud and excited about the coming term and carrying on our hard mahi". She welcomed the new Māori ward councillors to their first term and announced that Mōhaka ward councillor Tania Kerr would be deputy mayor. Nigel Bickle, chief executive of Hastings District Council, then congratulated all of the councillors.

The inaugural meeting of the council was also held then, and afterwards the inaugural meeting of the rural community board also occurred, with Jonathan Stockley and Isabelle Crawshaw appointed as board chair and deputy chair, respectively. Tania Kerr, Marcus Buddo, and Ana Apatu were appointed to the board as the council's representatives.

See also

• 2022 Napier City Council election