“Rodney is a district of very special characteristics.  We need to be managing our environment and developing our own strategic vision and placing it clearly and confidently in front of our new Auckland Council.

 Local board members need clear heads and strategic minds.  Our residents have every right to be informed, to be heard and to comment on what they are getting for their investment.

 We need leadership that

• Listens and inspires
• Isn’t afraid of implementing change
• Cuts through to the heart of the matter
• Gets people with diverse ideas working together
• Keeps to the big picture

 We need an innovative Rodney Local Board where the good ideas come from the people who have a vested interest in our future – our own residents and ratepayers.

 The next few years are critical for Rodney – let’s make the very best of them.”

 

Top 5 Issues

1. Have we lost our local representation?
   
   In fact we have probably got better opportunities for pursuing our cause than we had before. Under the old scheme our elected councillors were not only there to assist us to get what we wanted, they were also there to charge us for it - they set the rates and all the other regulatory rules and conditions.
   
   Now, the new Auckland Council will have all these regulatory responsibilities. Our new local board members working for us in our area will be taking our issues to the meeting room and determining the strategy for lobbying the Auckland Council.
   
   The people we need to elect are clear strategic thinkers who can take issues and rationally progress them through the corridors of power.
   
2. We need vision and we need experience
   
   The new local board needs to be visionary, it must be focussed on what's good for the people of Rodney and it needs to be absolutely accountable.
   
   It’s all about balance – with innovative, sustainable, commonsense progress – and empowering the people of our Ward. We need our new local board to be strategic and proactive. We need to be down in Auckland stating and restating our case - pragmatically and enthusiastically.
   
   What we need from our board membersI is
   - Commonsense & stability
   - Ensuring high quality services for ratepayers
   - Getting things done
   - Finding workable solutions to problems
   - Accountability and customer focus
   - Skilled listeners focused on important issues
   - Treating people with dignity & respect
   - Ready to press for real change where it is needed
   
   I bring enormous experience and a visionary approach with a pragmatic understanding of how local government works.
   
3. Our rural planning strategy
   
   A key issue is the pressure for development. We have a huge landmass, the largest of any local authority in the country – but we have less than 1% of that landmass built on, and our fellow citizens to the south can see this.
   
   We have enormous pressure on our southern boundaries. These pressures are coming from the over-burdened town planning in our neighbouring territories. Auckland is growing, and eating the landscape. We can’t shut our doors and pretend it’s their problem. We need to cope. We need to ensure that Auckland Council has a plan to manage development rather than have it thrust upon us.
   
   Rodney District Council has developed a draft rural strategy document to flag our desires and expectations to inform the new Auckland Council.
   
   This draft strategy is not the last word on rural planning for Rodney however. The new local board needs to be on to this document from Day One. It needs to work with the new planners and ensure that it gets out into the community for proper review and consultation.
   
4. We need employment, especially in our townships. The growth in our district brings with it the need to be able to find emplyment, particularly for our youth as they come through the education system.
   
   Our schools are doing a great job and need support to raise student achievement further, and with a focus on opportunities for employment.
   
5. It's a whole new learning curve
   
   Much of our current structure is being swept away with the new Auckland reforms. While we will lose an enormous amount of corporate memory, this is a great time to sweep out the old cobwebs and get underway planning for Rodney's future.
   
   The areas that will need addressing are:
   
   - Rural strategy and environment
   - Infrastructure development
   - Business growth (jobs)
   - Services
   - Involving people – our new democracy
   - Safety and security of our families

Personal Profile

WHO IS ALAN CURTIS?

Alan is your Dairy Flat Subdivision candidate standing for election to the Rodney Local Board - representing Coatesville and Dairy Flat.

Alan is a well known member of the local community having lived here for over 20 years.  When he stood for the mayoralty in 2007 he was the highest polling candidate in the Central Ward (Coatesville and Dairy Flat). 

Alan is a qualified accountant and has had a working career in the commercial sector, closing with a position as chief executive of Datacom's engineering operation.  He has been supporting school boards of trustees for over 20 years.  He has a thorough knowledge of governance and in his professional role provides guidance and training in this area. 

Alan understands the mechanics of government and how negotiations and lobbying work.  He was instrumental in the significant compensation settlement for Westlake Girls High School.  He is now driving a multi million dollar developments for the school.  He has been a member of the management and board of the Museum of Transport & Technology for several decades and is currently a member of the project team driving the Museum's major developments - notably the new $10m Aviation Hall now under construction.

Alan says:

“Our new local board, with nine members working for us across the Rodney district will be taking our issues into the meeting room and determining the strategies for lobbying the Auckland Council. 

I would like you to elect me to be the board member who represents Dairy Flat and Coatesville.  I am the candidate who has lived in the area for over 20 years.  As many of you know our family has been a working part of this community for all that time.  Our children went to the local school (where I also served many years on the board of trustees). 

I have driven every road in Dairy Flat and Coatesville; I know so many of the people here, I know the issues up close (I am a founder member of the Coatesville Residents and Ratepayers and represent the ratepayers on the Hall Committee).  I really understand what goes on here and the pressure for development versus the desire to maintain our rural character.

I also understand local government.  I have worked with Auckland City and with Rodney District Council.  I have been for the last three years an independent member of the Council’s Audit Committee – helping to ensure that Council abides by its own policies.  I have been delighted to work closely with Ross Craig who has been our Central Ward councillor for the last three years (Ross is now standing for a place on Council for the Albany Ward).

What we need is clear strategic thinking whereby issues can be rationally progressed through the corridors of power.  I have the skills and experience to undertake this task for you.

My support for local community activities, my support for our local schools and my experience are further outlined on my website www.alancurtis.co.nz.  There you will find my views on a variety of matters that affect Dairy Flat, Coatesville and the wider Rodney.

During this election countdown I will be meeting people at the Coatesville Market (5^th September and 3^rd October) and speaking at the Coatesville Hall (23^rd September). "

Follow Alan Curtis on Facebook where posts to his Discussion Page will keep you in touch with his thinking.

We need to elect an effective lobbyist to our local board.

For the Dairy Flat Subdivision, that’s Alan Curtis