Here we go again – encouraging voters to take an interest in the running of their districts.
Good Local Media journalists will be following the elections. Pictured from left are Roy Pilott, Chris Gardner, Mary Anne Gill, Jesse Wood, Viv Posselt and Peter Carr . Gill will lead the team.
The candidates will be known tomorrow afternoon and after voting forms are posted from September 9, voting will continue to October 11.
From Waikato district in the north, south through Waipā and Ōtorohanga to Waitomo, and an overlay of a regional council, it is local body politicians – some would say their staff too – who have the heaviest influence on community life.
It’s only when the service and services fall over that entire electorates get a real understanding of that.
Ask residents of Havelock North who have gone years without drinkable water. Ask the residents of Cambridge who became extremely animated about local body politics when The News revealed the “blue blob” – a residential zone tagged to take traffic from a new bridge across the Waikato River.
Local Choice
Fact is, most councils are more than happy to fly under the radar for three years, save getting some input on the odd community project.
Cambridge News 31 July 2025
Good Local Media has always placed local body politics in the A-category of importance. It has been pretty much the solo media player doing so in Waipā and more recently in King Country, where our coverage – belated as it was – of a new Ōtorohanga council logo has prompted a petition.
Added to the election is a sword hanging over Māori wards. Their introduction to district councils was supported by The News three years ago but they are now under threat after central government ordered referenda in most councils to give all voters the say as to whether or not they stay.
With the fields set from tomorrow, Good Local Media will keep you updated on Waikato, Waipā, Ōtorohanga and Waitomo districts and the Waikato Regional Council elections.
Roy Pilott, Mary Anne Gill, Viv Posselt, Chris Gardner and Jesse Wood – whose combined experience of local body elections goes back to the 1970s – are being joined by regular columnists and former Fieldays president Peter Carr to make up the Good Local election team. Carr’s commentary on the elections will appear fortnightly under the moniker Ticking the Boxes.
The News will be the place to go to for election coverage – it’s also where candidates will take out advertising space promoting themselves. On the news pages, we will be asking questions of candidates, not taking statements.
There was a predictable lament in some areas earlier this month at the level of interest in the elections and councils were encouraged by Local Government New Zealand to contact their local media in an attempt to publicise the elections. Notably national organisations involved in local body elections rarely spend any of their advertising budget with us in print or online where we attract thousands of visits every week without a pay wall.
Good Local Media journalists will be following the elections. Pictured from left are: Viv Posselt, Chris Gardner, Jesse Wood, Roy Pilott, Peter Carr and Mary Anne Gill.
