Voters urged to show discontent

Vanessa van Uden.
Vanessa van Uden.
A campaign has been launched in Wanaka urging voters in this year's local body elections to register their discontent with the two Queenstown Lakes mayoral candidates and instead vote for Wanaka's voice to be better heard in the district.

Support is growing for the movement, which has attracted more than 60 followers on its Facebook page: ''Respect Wanaka - Informal Vote for QLDC Mayor'' since it was set up at the weekend.

Its purpose is to encourage people to make an informal vote in the mayoral ballot showing they do not want either incumbent Vanessa Van Uden or new candidate Al Angus, also Wakatipu-based, as the district's leader.

It recommends voters instead write a comment such as ''Respect Wanaka'' in the mayoral section of the ballot paper.

''There is a large amount of dissatisfaction with our current mayor Vanessa Van Uden, and the feeling that she is not listening to the opinions of her Wanaka constituents,'' the Facebook page states.

''This has been reflected in the council's decision in respect of Wanaka Wastebusters and the recycling collection contract [lost to an Auckland-based firm], and more recently in respect to the Wanaka Library [staff cuts].''

While Mr Angus' candidacy meant there would be ''a contest rather than Ms Van Uden getting another term by default'', comments by Mr Angus about Wanaka suggested he was not a good option either, it further added.

The Wanaka Sun newspaper last week quoted Mr Angus as saying: ''I don't really know what Wanaka wants. Seriously I haven't taken much notice for years.''

Respect Wanaka group spokesman John Wellington, a Wanaka tourism operator, said while voters had a ''great range of candidates'' to choose from as councillors, there was a ''sense of frustration'' over the choices for mayor.

''The mayor certainly has done some good things, but there's very much a perception that the decisions are being made in Queenstown based on Queenstown circumstances without any thought that Wanaka is a different community and different solutions might be appropriate.

''[Former Queenstown Lakes mayor] Clive Geddes, whilst not perfect, was actually much more inclusive [of Wanaka].''

Ms van Uden said while she respected the campaign organisers' right to express an opinion, she was ''absolutely not'' too Queenstown-focused.

''I am elected to represent the whole of the Queenstown Lakes and have worked very hard in the last three years to do that.

''In the end, representation does not include saying yes all the time; it is about ensuring the best decisions [sometimes this equates to the hard choices] are made for the whole community and ratepayers.''

The Respect Wanaka campaign alleges on its Facebook page a ''growing sense of inequity'' between Queenstown and Wanaka, citing slow progress on the Wanaka Sports Facility compared with Queenstown's proposed convention centre, which had gone ''from nowhere to a decision being made in two years''.

Ms van Uden said much progress had been made on the sports facility project and it had not been ignored.

''I think if you asked people in Queenstown about the conference centre, they would tell you this has been talked about for 20 years.

''It is not overnight and it is not being done at the expense of the Wanaka Sports facility.''

She also rejected claims by the Respect Wanaka group that Queenstown Lakes District Council's deferred capital projects seemed to be proportionately more Wanaka-based projects.

''All of our work is based on the needs of the relevant scheme or the roading network and are engineer's assessments and advice rather than some idea of us sitting at a table in Queenstown going let's cut Wanaka out and only do Queenstown stuff.''

Mr Wellington said higher voter numbers in Queenstown meant defeat by any Wanaka mayoral candidate was always going to be unrealistic.

However, he hoped a large number of informal votes in this year's election would make Ms van Uden ''think about how she's perceived in Wanaka ... it just might make her reassess her priorities''.

lucy.ibbotson@odt.co.nz

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