In October, local government elections were held across Aotearoa New Zealand. As well as selecting Mayors, Councillors and ward representatives, the elections also included, for those councils who had elected to, a referendum on whether to retain their Māori ward.

To assist councillors to fully come up to speed on the Waikato wellbeing ecosystem, a number of organisations were invited to prepare a short introductory video, explaining their work and what they do. The WWP was honoured to be asked to provide a video introduction, and you can see our video here.

We also collaborated with the leaders of Community Waikato, Creative Waikato, Sport Waikato and the Waikato Housing Initiative to prepare a video which profiles us as a collective group of community and wellbeing leaders. The video describes how working together we can jointly rise to the challenge of our shared challenges. Again, together with our partners, we look forward to a positive and productive three years ahead. You can see the video here.

Based on preliminary results across the Waikato, electors returned 4 of the previous Mayors (Hauraki, South Waikato, Waitomo, Rotorua), and 7 new Mayors were elected (Waikato, Hamilton, Waipa, Thames-Coromandel, Matamata-Piako, Otorohanga and Taupō). Of the 7 new mayors, 2 were replacing a retiring Mayor. There were also numerous changes in councillors and ward representatives, that will be fully confirmed later this month.

We warmly welcome the returning and new elected representatives across the region. We look forward to working with you all, to support your communities and their priorities, whether they be in your sphere of responsibility, or require coordinated advocacy to influence other decision-makers. The WWP looks forward to working in partnership with you, other community, business, iwi and philanthropic leaders as we jointly strive to make the Waikato the best place in New Zealand to raise our children and grandchildren.