To make our city more liveable as we grow

My priorities as Mayor are:

Creating a vibrant City centre

We need a city centre where families want to spend time together.

My focus will be:

  • Developing a city centre strategy

  • Carrying out an affordable revitalisation project to attract people and businesses 

  • Create a 'pocket park' for kids in the centre of the city 

More transport choice

We need to make it easier to move around the city.

My focus will be:

  • Extend the train service to Timberlea Park

  • Create safe streets around our schools 

  • Fix potholes 

  • Design streets for accessibility 

building Affordable housing

We need to do what we can to support those struggling the most with housing costs.

My focus will be:

  • Working with community housing providers to build healthy, secure and affordable homes on underutilised Council land

planning for our future

We need to create an even better city for generations to come. 

My focus will be:

  • Create a 30-year infrastructure plan, using foresight and scenario planning 

  • Ensure developers pay their fair share towards growth

  • Invest consistently in infrastructure while sharing the costs fairly across generations  

Improving accountability and transparency

We need a Mayor who listens - and who answers to our community

I plan to:

- Genuinely engage with the community on decisions that impact us all

- Open Council workshops to everyone 

- Create a community impact statement for every major decision

- Provide a Mayor’s accountability report every year showing how I've met priorities 

- Make sure Council decisions are well informed with robust analysis and financial information 

- Publish key official information requests on the Council website 

Let’s create a more vibrant Upper Hutt together.

While achieving these goals, I will make pragmatic decisions in the best interests of the whole community. I will be responsible with our public money by advocating for the changes that are going to create the most public good. 

I am committed to ensuring the Council creates ways for citizens to contribute and be involved earlier in the decision-making process. I want to empower people to make their own unique contributions to our community. 

As Mayor, I’ll work collaboratively with our neighbouring cities and negotiate effectively with central government to ensure we have the resources we need to build a dynamic and resilient city for generations to come.