The ring has closed and the hats have been collected – let the fun begin!

With nominations for Local Body Elections closing last Friday, there's 59 people vying to be elected to 32 positions at Western Bay of Plenty District Council and 37 wanting to snap up 14 vacant seats on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Tauranga City Council will not hold elections until July 2024 – as decided by the Local Government Commission – meaning the four Commissioners in place will do the job until then.

The local District Health Board elections have been dissolved by the government-decided creation of Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, our new national health entity.

Eight Mayoralty candidates

The top job of Western BOP Mayor, vacated by outgoing two-term Mayor Garry Webber, has eight candidates vying for the position – including John Scrimgeour, Don Thwaites, James Denyer, Paul Haimona, Rodney Joyce, Mark Boyle, Hori BOP Leaming and Suaree Borrell.

There are eight candidates for three Katikati-Waihi Beach Ward seats, seven candidates for four Kaimai Ward seats, and 12 contesting the four Maketu-Te Puke Ward seats. In Waihī Beach there are seven community board candidates, Katikati has seven, Ōmokoroa nine, Te Puke 10, and in Maketu six. Each community board will have four people elected.

Meanwhile, elections will be held in all but one of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council constituencies at this year's Local Body Elections, with a late surge of nominations arriving last Friday morning.

Seventeen people are vying for the regional council's Tauranga seat, which has five vacancies. Four people are running for BOPRC's two Western BOP seats, six people are running for BOPRC's two Rotorua seats, and five people are vying for BOPRC's two Eastern BOP seats.

In BOPRC's three Maori constituencies, two people are vying for the Ōkurei seat, two people are running for the Mauao seat – and the Kōhī seat has received just one nomination – meaning candidate Toi Kai Rakāu Iti is elected unopposed.

BOPRC deputy electoral officer Tone Nerdrum Smith says in particular, the regional council's five Tauranga seats being contested by 17 candidates this elections is a 'a shift from 2019 when just five nominations were received and an election was not required”.

'Voting will open on September 16 and close at 12 noon on October 8. Voters are encouraged to keep an eye on their letterboxes for their voting papers and to have their say in who represents them for the next three years,” says Tone.

Community representation

WBOPDC chief executive officer John Holyoake says this year's nominations to his council are a real win for community representation across the Western BOP.

'This year we launched Generation Change He panoi ā renga to celebrate the mix of people that make the Western Bay so great. We encouraged our people to stand up for their communities and bring their voices to the table.

'We're excited to say they've heard the call, and that this year's nominations include the broadest range of candidates that we've seen in a very long time. There's people from different generations, various walks of life, and there's no doubt they each possess different skills and have unique lived experience.

'This is exactly what we need to ensure that the decisions made by council suit everyone in the Western Bay. Thank you to all of the candidates for putting your hand up, and good luck.”

Now eyes turn to the upcoming WBOPDC Meet the Candidate Debate series from August 29-September 1 – to see Mayoral and Councillor candidates in action on the campaign trail.

Find out more about the council's debates series at: www.generationchange.nz