Niamh Shaw standing down as QLDC councillor

Niamh Shaw has announced she is not seeking re-election as a Queenstown Lakes District Councillor...
Niamh Shaw has announced she is not seeking re-election as a Queenstown Lakes District Councillor. Photo: Marjorie Cook
Wanaka Ward Councillor Niamh Shaw announced she will not seek re-election as a Queenstown Lakes District Councillor on July 14.

Ms Shaw was elected in October 2019 and said serving the Upper Clutha and Queenstown Lakes community has been "an honour and privilege."

“I stood for election because I wanted to make a positive difference within council on behalf of residents. I’ve never taken for granted the fact that this community trusted me to represent them authentically at the council table. For these reasons, the decision to stand down has been huge and complex," Ms Shaw said.

A priority throughout her time has been to earn the trust the community placed in her, by improving transparency, accountability, democratic process and oversight within council.

“Serving as a councillor has been tricky and thrilling and frustrating and incredibly varied in scope, and I am incredibly grateful to have been granted the opportunity to fulfil it. There are several factors that have informed my decision, both personal and professional," she said.

Ms Shaw is originally from Limerick, Ireland and has lived and worked in London and Dubai.

With a degree in applied maths and computing from the University of London, Ms Shaw went on to work as a trainee accountant at PWC before shifting into project management.

She switched to PWC's IT Business Systems team which involved rolling out human resources management systems across Europe, before moving to Dubai as an IT training manager, were she met her husband.

After ten years of living in Dubai together, the couple moved to New Zealand in 2008 spending time in Auckland and Marlborough before moving to Oamaru to be close to her partner's family in Maheno.

During this time, Ms Shaw volunteered at Oamaru's toy library before shifting to consulting work at the Waitaki District Council.

The family of four shifted to Wanaka in 2017.

Ms Shaw is excited for the next chapter and said she is "currently working on a couple of community projects, and excited about what the future holds.”

Voting for local elections open from September 16 to October 8.

 - Aspen Bruce

 

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