“Be always united in our shared love for Marlborough”, urges Mayor at first meeting

With a few new faces around the table, but the top two names remaining the same, the first meeting of the new Marlborough District Council was played out in front of full Chambers.

In her term opening speech, Mayor Nadine Taylor said she and her new council, with re-elected Deputy Mayor David Croad, “begin this term at an exciting time of challenge and of opportunity”, and believes “Marlborough can lead the way in regional growth in New Zealand”.

“It’s a proud day for Marlborough; the day we renew our local democracy as the new council has taken its oath, has pledged its service, and is ready to begin the work on behalf of the people of this region that we all love.

“To our new councillors, you have earned the confidence of your communities to take the step to serve them. That decision that you made, to put your hand up and serve, is one of the most important that you can make.

“To the returning councillors, thank you very much for continuing to share your knowledge, to share your experience and to provide the steady hand that will guide us forward together.

“We’ll begin this new term, three years that will test our resilience, call for vision, and will require our very best as a team - and we are a team.

“The oath you’ve taken is more than a formality. It’s a promise made to every person who calls Marlborough home, that you will act in their best interest together as a team, in the best interest of the district.

“The understanding that our strength as a council lies in unity of purpose, even when our individual votes have differed.”

Mayor Taylor noted rebuilding projects after severe weather across the Sounds, Northbank and Spring Creek, alongside adapting to change across Council with its Water Services Organization and signalled Central Government reforms as key tasks ahead.

However, she says she sees continued opportunities in primary industries, tourism, transport, technology and entrepreneurial innovation.

“At the same time, we have so much opportunity and the region punches well above its weight as a powerhouse of primary production and innovation.

“We’re the home of world class wine - and I encourage you all to keep that economy going, please drink as much as you can - a home of aquaculture with NZ King Salmon, a growing base in technology, in tourism and logistics. Our port and our airports connect to national and international markets, and our entrepreneurs and small businesses continue to adapt to innovate and thrive.

“Marlborough can lead the way in regional growth in New Zealand, growing in food and in manufacturing, show that smaller districts can compete globally while caring deeply for their environment and for their people - that is the future that we are privileged here at this table to have some small part in helping to shape together.

“We will encourage development that supports both economic opportunity and environmental care - a social, cultural and recreational life, the things that make Marlborough so special.

“Things that some consider nice to have, I consider essential to the way we live, the things that make our province liveable.

“We are so fortunate in the staff that we have here at Council, it’s important for us as governors and leaders to acknowledge that while we do set that governance strategic direction, indeed it is the staff that delivers so much work to the people of Marlborough.

“Let’s be strong where strength is needed. Let’s be careful when care is required, and let’s be always united in our shared love for Marlborough,” she concluded.