It was more than “business as usual” during the first week for incumbent Mayor John Robertson following his re-election on Election Day on Saturday 11 October.

No sooner had John began preparing to welcome two new Councillors to the table when a large chunk of his time was diverted to leading the community through a significant flooding event.

Although the Civil Defence emergency overshadowed the Elections results, it is a scenario John is used to. It will be his third term as Mayor of Waitomo, and extreme weather events have been a common occurrence in the district during the past six years.

“One of the key roles of the Mayor is to help the new Council to sort out its priorities.  Getting our rural roading network into a more resilient state over time to cope with such weather events will be one of those priorities, as will be improving our stormwater and wastewater networks in Te Kūiti,” says John.

He is looking forward to forming the new Council.

“I met with our two new elected members, Olivia Buckley and Isaiah Wallace earlier this week. It is an exciting time for them.  I welcome them to the team.

“I expect to meet with the returning Councillors Goddard, Manawaiti, Tasker and Osborne this coming week. 

“We have a good balance of Councillors with four returned and two new.  New members  bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the table.

“Over the next few weeks I need to decide who will be Deputy Mayor and what the Committee structure of Council should be.  The latter includes selecting who should be members of these Committees.

“Then we will move into setting goals – what as a team we wish to achieve in the next three years. 

“Local government is going through testing times.  This will be a busy three years for the both the governance team and the executive.  But if we plan it well, it will also be an enjoyable and productive three years. 

“That is my hope and I am sure the wish of all members of the new governance team.”

Waitomo District Council Chief executive Ben Smit says over the next few months there will be plenty of learning as new and returning members consider Council plans, operational workings and responsibilities.  An induction programme is being developed and will begin in November, after members are sworn in at the inaugural Council meeting on Tuesday 28 October.

“It's been great to see a higher voter turnout of 46% compared to last elections, which was 43%.

“This is an indication of the strong competition for each of our council elected positions and the efforts we have put in promoting people to vote.”

“There will be many challenges ahead as a Council, with the transition of Council’s water and wastewater services moving to Waikato Waters Ltd, coupled with keeping rates affordability at front of mind while ensuring levels of service are satisfactory.

“I encourage people to engage with their elected members to help them make the best decisions on your behalf.”

Visit council’s website to see the final declaration of results for 2025.