Andy Clover

For independent, critical thinking and fair representation by an enthusiastic, intelligent and relatively young candidate.

I am fair-minded and balanced, with a strong sense of justice and equality. I will work enthusiastically for the good of the whole community.

I am a creative and critical thinker who can offer new approaches to solving problems and planning for the future.

I have been part of successful teams and I'm good at listening, arguing, negotiating, and thrashing out the issues to arrive at a resolution.

After polling well in 2007 with 4,273 votes, and continuing to maintain a profile in the ensuing years, I am a credible and well-known candidate. I have lived and worked in Nelson for 10 years.

NO HIDDEN AGENDAS

I am an independent candidate. I am not standing to push any pet projects or hidden agendas. I have my own views, but I can listen to and empathise with a broad range of interested parties. I will strive to make decisions that are transparent and fair.

WIDER REPRESENTATION

Nelson politics is heavily influenced by resident and lobby groups, such as Grey Power. Whilst I respect their experience and concerns, there are significant segments of Nelson society (generally younger, progressive) that deserve to have their views represented at Council level. I am standing for those people.

After polling well in 2007 with 4,273 votes, and continuing to maintain a profile in the ensuing years, I am a credible and well-known candidate. I have lived and worked in Nelson for 10 years. I am fair-minded and balanced, with a strong sense of justice and equality. I will work enthusiastically for the good of the whole community.

I want to be part of a progressive council that can continue to provide quality infrastructure services and sporting and cultural amenities whilst keeping an eye on the costs and not burdening future generations with debt. Sensible spending, with maximum efficiency.

I am a creative and critical thinker who can offer new approaches to solving problems and planning for the future.

I have been part of successful teams and I'm good at listening, arguing, negotiating, and thrashing out the issues to arrive at a resolution.

NO HIDDEN AGENDAS

I look forward to serving you.

Top 5 Issues

Free beer and eternal life for all!
Sorry folks, if you want empty promises and 'vote for me' slogans, you won't get them from me.
I'm very aware that, if elected, I'll be only one of 12 councillors so I won't be promising anything I can't deliver. What I will do is promise to be fair, keep an open mind, and apply the principles of social justice and equality to my decision making.
Rates.
It's clear that rates cannot keep rising and there is concern in the community about this issue. I'm a rate-payer too, so I expect to see value for money and responsible spending from my council. We can continue to provide quality infrastructure, sporting and cultural facilities without burdening our kids with massive debt. That's what I'll be pushing for. Sensible spending and maximum efficiency.
Amalgamation.
I'm not really for or against this idea. I don't care as long as we can work constructively with TDC on regional issues. I supported Cr Miccio's petition because it's a good idea to see what the costs and benefits of amalgamation are. If we can get these facts independently presented, then the community can make a decision and put the matter to bed once and for all.
Performing Arts & Conference centre.
Let's take a breather here, have a look at the options again and assess the real need against the numerous facilities we currently have on offer.

If the private sector is going to build a conference facility, then I can't se the sense in NCC competing with that.

That may leave us with a standalone PAC to consider. I'll need to review the work done to date on this. I'm not sure we haven't already got enough good facilities operating with the Theatre Royal finished, plus the option of finishing the Trafalgar Centre Upgrade.

Whatever we do, let's make sure we can really afford this building, without it being a major debt burden for ratepayers into eternity. If we then do go ahead, let's make this PA Centre a superb example of cutting-edge sustainable building practices so it serves as a PAC and a tourist attraction at the same time.
You tell me!
I'm here to serve you, so tell me what's on your mind. Public transport? Roading issues? Pokies in Victory Square? The Montgomery Square carpark upgrade?
Let me know your concerns. Email me at info@andyclover.com

Personal Profile

I'm a 34 year old self-employed Creative Director who has lived and worked in Nelson for ten years, with involvement in numerous community, cultural and sporting activities.

I am not married, and have no kids, so I have the time and energy to apply to the work of Council.

I have managed a number of profitable businesses for some years, and am good at creating systems and applying efficiencies to tasks in order to improve productivity.

My creative and design work is all about problem solving and applying critical thinking to find different and more efficient ways of doing things. This is the approach I will bring to my role as a Councillor, if elected.

In the last elections in 2007, the issue of roading was very contentious and the community was considering various options like the Southern Link, widening Rocks Road etc. Some current councillors, as well as candidates were standing up and saying things like "We planned this road (the Southern Link through the Railway reserve) forty years ago so we must go ahead and finish it."

I was amazed at these comments - did these guys really think that nothing had changed in 40 years? It showed an incredible lack of judgement and critical thinking.

The fact is a lot has changed in 40 years, not least of which is the price of fuel, the looming end of cheap energy and the widespread practices of promoting more efficient transport solutions. Since that time, Victory Community has been awarded NZ Community of the Year! A stunning achievement and just one more reason why we should not even be considering putting a highway through their village.

There are issues with heavy transport around Rocks Road, and I'm keen to sit down and have a look at the extensive work that has been down to find the best solution to these matters, however, given the cost concerned, and the projections which indicate the situation may not significantly worsen over the next decade or so, I'm also keen to look at what difference we can make with better public transport and demand management. I think the NCC could apply a bit of carrot (as opposed to stick) and incentivise some positive changes that get people out of their single occupancy vehicles.

Our traffic flow / congestion problem is not particularly severe. We don't necessarily need to build new roads at costs of $100+ million just to take a few seconds off someone's trip into town. What we can do is implement greater incentives to commute, and more efficient public transport (how about a fleet of mini vans whizzing around the region picking people up, until demand grows and we can sustain larger vehicles like buses on regular routes?).

These are prudent and sensible ideas I can support and will promote.

Authorised by Andy Clover of 49 Cambria Street, Nelson

Questions answered by Andy Clover

Question

Andy Clover's Reply

Does Nelson region need a Conference Centre?

At the moment \"I don\'t know\" is the simple answer.

I am aware that it has been looked at as part of a Performing Arts and Conference Centre, and then as a standalone option once that faltered. I\'m not up to speed with where that process is at now, and would expect to be fully briefed once elected.

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Nelson Southern Arterial Route - yes or no?

Hi Helen

Sorry for the delay, I was unable to access the system to answer your question.

Short answer is that I am "against" this proposal, for a number of good reasons. However, the more debate we have on this topic, the more complexity emerges, and the more I am convinced that no decision ought to be made until all the facts are on the table, and Council and the public can consider and debate them properly. I certainly don't think the current environment of hostility and divisive bickering is helping us reach a good decision that will be acceptable to the whole community, and I fear now that whatever is proposed will cause major upset for one part of the community or another.

My personal view on transport and the future is that we might very likely not need any new roads, depending on how soon we start to see the effects of peak oil production. I would like to see if we can't spent those many millions on options that might serve us better in the future, such as a better public transport system. However, I am aware that from a national perspective, we are expected as a region to secure and maintain our arterial traffic corridors, and there are a number of complicating factors in this such as the costs of maintenance, the rules around moving a state highway designation, and other community severance and accessibility, safety and health issues.

The best idea I have heard yet is we need to wait until all the facts are out in the next report. No point rushing this one. It's taken 40 years to get here!

regards

Andy

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Performing arts centre

This is a subjective matter and one which requires more than a simple \"yes\" or \"no\" answer. Who can properly say what a region \"needs\"? I think two other important questions to consider might be \"Does the region WANT a PAC\" and \"Are the ratepayers of the region happy to pay for it?\" and if so, what are we prepared to spend as a Council, and how else might we gather private investment towards this building so as to lower the burden on ratepayers. We also need to assess current capacity delivered by the Theatre Royal and Trafalgar Centre, and whether we ought to manage within what we already have.

My personal thinking at this point, as outlined on my profile page, is we hold off on this spending for now. If we do build a PAC, let\'s create an architectural gem and a model of cutting edge energy efficient building, that will attract tourists and visitors and further promote Nelson\'s uniqueness.

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Railway reserve development

Short answer is that I am \"against\" this proposal, for a number of good reasons. However, the more debate we have on this topic, the more complexity emerges, and the more I am convinced that no decision ought to be made until all the facts are on the table, and Council and the public can consider and debate them properly.

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Performance of current council

That\\\'s a very broad and ultimately subjective question, John.

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Should the Nelson Marina be incorporated?

Hi Cathie

I prefer the latter option.

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How are you qualified for the job?

Hi Catherine,

Having never actually been an effective councillor, I can, at best, only surmise.

I have a Bachelors Degree in Visual Arts, a course of study which was heavily conceptual, and involved papers in contemporary theory and philosophy - my point here being it encouraged socratic thinking / questioning / and deep consideration of various political and social issues. I am widely read, a thinker, I have long-standing interest in politics, economics, globalisation, environmental issues, art theory and philosophy, religious systems... the list goes on.

My work as a Creative Director involves strategic thinking and implementation for various companies and brands, and fundamentally different ways of looking at the world, solving problems, and coming up with new ideas. I have to be able to listen, engage, communicate, write, strategise, project manage, design and create effectively. All of these I can do to a high level, and these skills I will bring with me to Council.

As far as other formal training goes , I am quite versatile here: I have trained in web design, paper making, creative writing, water-colour painting, driving a forklift, attitudes and motivation, goal setting, sales, basketball refereeing and first aid. I\'m note sure any of these will be relevant, although, CPR may be a useful skill, given the age of some of my fellow candidates.

First and foremost, I think, I am a sound and reasonably good person - I care about my fellow human beings, I care about how we treat each other, how we live and how we progress our society. I care about what we do to our natural world, social justice and equality, helping those in need, and resisting stupidity and bureaucratic nonsense.

I can only hope to serve the people well.

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Should the council be involved in ensuring tertiary education offerings?

Hi Jude

My short answer would be 'no'. I would support cooperation and joint initiatives between our schools and NMIT, trade bodies and business interest groups, that would help ensure students were being trained for relevant local positions where required, but I don't think it's really the realm of NCC to be heavily involved in what courses are offered.

As for the the first part of your question, aside from the obvious, it's very broad and I don't see the relevance to local body political candidates.

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