Water is back on the table at Waikato District Council following Aksel Bech’s decisive mayoral victory over incumbent Jacqui Church.
New Waikato mayor Aksel Bech with his family, daughters Liv, left and Annelise with wife Susan at their Tamahere home. Son Murdoch was absent at university. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Bech returns to the council where he previously served as deputy mayor before losing to Church three years ago. This time, he secured 12,148 votes – up from 6344 – while Church’s support dropped to 6994 from 7253.
Jacqui Church – fourth term on council, last three as mayor, lives at Port Waikato and is a business owner.
Voter turnout in the Tamahere-Woodlands ward was close to 40 percent, but Bech wants changes, including online voting and aligning local elections with the national vote.
“You couldn’t go anywhere in Tamahere today to drop off your ballot papers,” he told The News from his Tamahere home on Saturday.
After three years out of office, Bech is eager to get up to speed on many issues, including water.
“I really favoured the previous model that we had with Water Care where effectively Waikato district retained all the assets and Water Care was a service provider under a 30-year contract.”
He has yet to fully examine the new arrangement with Hamilton City Council and Waikato Iawai – Flowing Waters, which now manages water, wastewater, and stormwater services for both councils. The organisation plans to invest over $3 billion in infrastructure to support growth and maintain service levels.
“I understand the (old) model really, really well but I haven’t understood what the savings are compared to this new model.
“I am seriously concerned about the future cost of the targeted rates for three and two waters.
“We don’t want a situation of them (Iawai) just saying ‘here is your new rate, please pass it on’. So, setting up the right governance structure becomes really important,” said Bech.
Craig Hobbs
Bech also wants transparency around consultant costs and is pleased new chief executive Craig Hobbs has reduced the size of the executive team. During the campaign, Bech revealed the council’s annual salary bill had increased by $12.2 million.
He supports shared services over forced amalgamations and has already identified Newcastle-Ngāruawāhia councillor Eugene Patterson as his preferred deputy mayor — if Patterson is interested.
“I know that he’s very keen on the infrastructure role too,” said Bech.
So is Tamahere-Woodlands’ Mike Keir who was re-elected alongside Crystal Beavis.
Mike Keir – 2025
Keir had planned to step down if Church was re-elected but ended up as the ward’s top polling candidate.
Other priorities for Bech include Hamilton Airport, where Waikato is one of five local authority shareholders.
“They’ve been on board with a strategy to extract value from selling surplus land, but that might change,” he said.
He’s also concerned about the potential lapse of the runway extension project. “We’ll never get that back again.”
Southern Links, a nationally significant road project connecting to the Waikato Expressway in Tamahere, is another looming issue. No decision has been made on where to start construction, but informed sources suggest beginning in Tamahere and replacing the Narrows Bridge.
Crystal Beavis – 2025
“That’s Hamilton’s ring road—the back door to Peacockes—and all the interchanges in our district are based on modelling that predicts truck movements through this area,” Bech said.
Because of the alphabet Bech and Church sat side-by-side for years on the council under former mayor Allan Sanson, who attended Bech’s mayoral celebration on Saturday.
“She would always come very well prepared, have read everything, made notations as to where she wanted to ask questions and so on. I have nothing but admiration for the passion and the work ethic that she brought with her for a very long time,” said Bech.
On the referendum result – Waikato voted to remove Māori wards – Bech said the people had decided and that was binding on the council.
Before officially starting his new term, Bech had 175 campaign signs spread across 400,000 hectares to remove – but he’s already focused on hitting the ground running.
Voters told him they wanted accountability and transparency. He plans to establish citizen assemblies and other forms of participatory democracy, while increasing decision-making powers for community boards and committees.
“We need a bit more truthfulness in the way we communicate,” he said.
New Waikato mayor Aksel Bech with his family, daughters Liv, left and Annelise with wife Susan at their Tamahere home with its Moa sculpture. Son Murdoch was absent at university. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
