Advocacy group makes strong bid for Selwyn District Council seats
Another key member of a community advocacy group is making a bid for the Selwyn District Council.
Lincoln Voice secretary Denise Carrick will be running for a seat in the Kā Puna Springs Ward.
She is the third committee member of Lincoln Voice to announce they will stand for the district council in the October local body elections.
Chair Tracey Macleod is running for one of the at-large seats and committee member Aaron McGlinchy for a Springs Ward seat.
New councillors-at-large added
Unlike Macleod and McGlinchy who are running as independents, Carrick will be using the Lincoln Voice banner in her campaign.
'I have the blessing of the committee and the founding members to do that,' Carrick said.
Current Springs Ward councillors Malcolm Lyall and Debra Hasson are yet to decide whether they will stand again, while Grant Miller announced on Anzac Day he would not be seeking re-election.
Like Macleod and McGlinchy, a key motivation for standing was Lincoln Voice's fight to stop the huge 2100-home Carter subdivision, Earlsbrook.
Lincoln Voice had appealed the private plan change, which the council approved in the Environment Court.
But before the case was heard, the appeal was made null and void after the subdivision was included in the District Plan, which the council controversially signed off on with only six councillors present. The remaining five and Mayor Sam Broughton were either away or not voting due to a conflict of interest.
Because Lincoln Voice was never involved in the District Plan process, which started a number of years before the group was formed, it had no grounds to appeal the plan.
That prompted questions and criticism from Lincoln Voice as to why the vote was not delayed until more councillors could be present for the vote.
Carrick said if she was elected and a similar big decision was to happen she would want a full council to be present.
'Those sorts of big decisions need to be handled better.'
Carrick said now the subdivision is under construction, she wants to focus on ensuring Lincoln has the infrastructure to cope with the extra homes.
'It is in the background, because what's done is done.
'But the repercussions of it are still becoming very evident with growth in population and the need for infrastructure.'
Carrick is also on the Selwyn Community Patrol committee and works part-time as a teacher aide at Rolleston College.
Macleod owns and operates NTM Consulting, while McGlinchy is a part-time consult operations manager for Eco Index.
In recent years Carrick's focus has been on Lincoln, but she said she can still represent the other Springs Ward townships. This now includes West Melton.
'Each of our townships has got different issues, but we all have quite a lot in common with how quickly we've grown and the issues that brings,' she said.
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