Raglan Politics

WDC Mayor Aksel Bech joins us to talk about the Government's local government reforms and how the will impact the reforms he's trying to make within Waikato District Council. We also talk about the rates cap and the work he'll be doing once he's back from the Christmas break as well as the many other changes that the government is bringing through.

John and Aaron attempt to discuss all the big events and headlines that happened in 2025. It was a year that produced a new mayor and a new sewerage treatment plant but also continued the problems with people getting in trouble at sea.

Ross joins us in the studio to look over the issues discussed at the Raglan Community Board's first full meeting since the election.Meeting times, trial Raglan bus, summer prep with Xtreme Waste and Police, Descretionary Fund, sealing Rural roads, Greenslade Playground, Wainui Reserve 30 year plan, town planning, council reporting issues, Harbour water quality.

Lisa Thomson joins us to talk about; freedom camping, this week's community board meeting, a new water tower, cell phone tower government changes to the local body scene, stormwater, traffic issues around Raglan Area School and summer preparations

John and Aaron try to figure out what the government is trying to achieve by breaking up regional councils and look at the Community Board agenda for tomorrow's meeting.

Our new Community Board Chair Ross Wallis is in studio to talk about the new powers that the Mayor has delegated to Community Boards and about the Board's plans for the next three years.

Our Councillor Lisa Thomson has been appointed Chair of the new Community Voice and Choice Committee - one of the three main committees of council - so we talk with her about her hopes for this new role and what it means for the new Mayor to prioritise community engagement in such a significant way, We also check in on local issues and how the new community board is coming together.

Mayor Aksel joins us to talk about changes he's making to the way council operates and to the new powers he's delegating to the Raglan Community Board. We also talk about his desire for transparency and for communities to have more of a say in how the council operates.

We talk about the efforts at the Regional Council to try to stop Plan Change 1 plus look at various projects and opportunities to give feed back to the District Council. We also look at how many times sewer lines have been incorrectly connected to the stormwater system - something that has caused very high E Coli. readings in our harbour.

Ross Wallis joins us in the studio fresh from being elected as Chair of the Raglan Community Board earlier in the week. We talk about the plans for the next three years and what it might mean if the new Mayor goes through with his plan of giving more power to the Community boards

John Lawson is in studio to look at the final election results and maybe predict what's going to happen over the next three years. We also look at couple of consultations happening at the moment about activities on our beaches and also freedom camping on James St.

We talk to Lisa Thomson in her first interview since winning a fourth term as our local Councillor and catch up about the local issues that council is working on including bad behavior from campers on James St, the Beaches by-law, Wainui Reserve 30 year plan, CCTV cameras - and we also look back at the election results including the Maori Ward referendum.

Waikato District Council's new Mayor Aksel Bech joins us following his big win at the weekend's local body election. We talk about his plans for the next three years and how he'll keep those election promises.

With just days left till the local body election closes we look at the stats to see if there will be a bigger turn out this year and talk about some issues that have come up during the campaign.

One of our candidates for Plan Change 1 at the Waikato Regional Council has described this plan as being something that will cost the Regional economy billions of dollars. We've got Craig Mitchell in the studio to see if we can get behind the hyperbole and slogans and find our what the Plan means and whether the council can stop it - if they decide the want to.

Did the Regional Council staff make decisions on the public transport without all the information from a survey? It would appear that the full results of a region-wide survey were not put in front of the council when they had to make key decisions about the upcoming bus contract which is due to be negotiated with a private contractor. John Lawson has been asking questions and has a few answers, but wants more.

John and Aaron check out the voter returns to date and review the Meet the Candidates event that was run by Raglan Community Radio and discuss the state of play at the moment.

There was a lot of news from the recent Community Board meeting so we've bought Chairperson Dennis Amoore into the studio to find out what happened.

We meet Eloise Deller and learn a little bit about her background and why she chose to run for the Raglan Community Board.

With the Maori ward Referendum coming up we talk to our local Maori Ward Councillor about her experience over the last three years and find out in, practical terms, what a Maori Ward Councillor does. Tilly Turner is the first, and returning Councillor for the Tai Runga Takiwaa Maori Ward within Waikato District Council.

Chris joins us in the studio to tell us why he's running for a third term on the Raglan Community Board and we talk about what he feels he's achieved and what else he wants to do.

He's not running for council but he has a lot to say about the process. We cover a couple of things that have come up on the election trail plus we take a look at the upcoming community board meeting this week - which will be the last before the election.

Satnam joins us in the studio to talk about his last three years on the community board and what he feels he has to offer for the next three.

Jacqui joins us on the line to talk about her bid for a second term as Waikato District Mayor

Aksel joins us in the studio to talk about his campaign for Waikato District Council Mayor

We catch up with Gary McGuire to see what we can learn about him and the issues he cares about ahead of voting in the local body election.

We talk to our sitting councilor Lisa Thomson about her bid to return for a 4th term with Waikato District Councillor.

We talk to Ross Wallis who is running for a position on the Raglan Community Board for a second time.

We talk to current Councillor Noel Smith about his decision to return for a second term on the Regional Council and discuss things like Plan Change One, rates and community engagement.

We talk to current Councillor and Chairperson Pamela Storey who is running for a third term on the council.

Jasmine is well known for work at the local Environment Centre so we find out a few other things about her background before she started there and talk about what she would like to do on the Community Board.

We talk to Dennis about his decision to come back for a third term on the board, what he feels he achieve in the last few years, what he would like to do and we also have a chat about what the work of a board members actually consists of.

We Nick Pearce to learn a bit about him as well as his plans for the Raglan Community Board.

We talk to Nicola Laboyrie about her background, what she hopes to achieve in council and her experience taking legal action against the council about the right to ride horses on the beach.

Despite the election Council is still doing some of it's normal business and John has been digging to find a few nuggets of useful info for us. We also talk about the Waikato Times controversy about plastic in the water and debate the issue of rates that is rearing it's head at this election.

We get to know a bit about Peter Hampton, talk about his aims should be get on to the board and what he thinks needs to be improved about council and the community board

We talk to aspiring election candidate Rhys Craig about why he's running for the regional council.

This is the second of our interviews with Pakeha community members who are supportive of Maori Wards. Today we talk to Tony Mayow.

We're talking to a few community members about their thoughts on the Maori Ward Referendums and today we have Phil & Jilliene Beale in studio to talk about their journey as Pakeha learning about Te Tiriti and what they think about the referendum.Note that this referendum applies to the Waikato District Council and not the Waikato Regional Council

John joins us to talk about the recent bus survey, NZ First's desire to get into the gas field off the coast of Raglan and we find out the history of the trees in the main street.

Councillor Lisa Thomson joins us to talk about the new Wastewater Treatment Plant and the 50 year journey since the Raglan County Council decided to put a sewerage works on a sacred Maori site. We also look at the upcoming election, a surprise visit from the Mayor to hand out some awards, and touch base with a few others issues happening in Whaingaroa

Council election rules, plastic in the sea controversy in the Waikato Times, lights on the Papahua walkway and bridge, Council snubs Community Board at Wastewater plant opening, town plan

Councillor's are feeling frustrated at the moment about restrictions placed on them by the Executive Leadership Team whereby interactions with staff need to be approved by the Leadership Team in the period ahead of the local body election.

John Lawson joins Aaron in the studio to look at the work the community board will be doing at tomorrow's meeting

Lisa joins us to talk about; criminal activity down James St, the new wastewater treatment plant opening, a recent local government NZ conference, consultation on Lorenzen Bay Reserve, Wainui Reserve and changes to alcohol bylaw. We also have a quick look at this weekend's Karioi Classic bike race

If you're thinking of running for the Community Board or maybe for Mayor John and Aaron have the new rates for local body politicians. They also talk about other local happenings, a Palestine protest, a bus survey and council looks like they're going to try and ban horses from the local beach again.

John Lawson joins us fresh from a council meeting where the source of high E Coli readings in the harbour were discussed. We also take a look at the upcoming local body election

We catch up about the Wellbeing and Sustainability committee, long term plan is finally through, the election is coming up but council is still consulting on neighbourhood parks and will be consulting on Wainui reserve's 30 year plan soon. WDC finally had the stakeholder meeting about Raglan's storwater and we have a chat about roading

John Lawson is in studio to discuss the upcoming election, community board issues and big changes coming up with out buses

We talk about new a new bus in Raglan, CCTV, E Coli in the harbour, transport plans for Raglan, Wastewater discharge update and council consultations