13 candidates were put through their paces at the Meet the Candidates event in the Raglan Town Hall on Sunday. 100 people filled the room as the candidates running for Mayor, Community Board and Councillor positions were asked a series of questions about local issues. The audience had the chance to put some questions forward although there were far too many given the time available.
A video of the event is available on Raglan Community Radio’s facebook page and on Vimeo for anyone who missed out.
Noel Smith, who is running for a second term on the Regional Council has produced some statistics from the recent bus survey that showed the level of opposition to changes to the buses our Rangatahi use to get to school in Hamilton. Because it’s election season he wasn’t allowed to ask council staff directly so was forced to do an Official Information request.
The results showed that 53% of users say they would use the service less because of the changes and there were many comments complaining that the proposed change would mean longer but times and missed connections and there were safety concerns about the Hamilton Transport Centre.
The Regional Council has agreed to keep the current system in the short term but is reserving the right to revisit the issue in a few years.
In sport Alani Morse is returning from the ISA World Surfing Games as the top New Zealand performer, having finished 33rd in the open women’s event. Having just turned 15 a few months earlier she helped bring the average age of the team down to 18. Brother Theo, who is 18, finished 73rd in the open men’s and the team finished 21st overall.
They were up against 300 competitors from 61 countries. Alani Morse and team mate Lola Groube now turn their attention to the World Junior Championships which will take place in December in Peru where they will be part of a twelve surfer Kiwi line up.