The Raglan community is mourning the passing of Malcolm Cox, former principal and long-serving teacher at Raglan Area School, who passed away last week.
The family has confirmed that Malcolm returned home to 33 Norrie Avenue on Monday, 13 October, and that anyone who knew him is welcome to visit and pay their respects over Monday and Tuesday.
Community Farewell / Memorial will be held at Raglan School Hall on Thursday Oct 16th @ 6pm
A chance to remember Malcolm Cox together as a community including an open mic for anyone to share memories and pay respects.
Requiem Funeral Mass
Holy Name Raglan Catholic Church
Friday Oct 17th @ 11am
Followed by burial.
In local body election news, Lisa Thomson has been returned as the Whaingaroa Councillor and Aksel Bech installed as the new Mayor for Waikato District Council in the 2025 local body election.
Special votes won’t be counted until the end of the week but the results affecting our community are unlikely to shift from the preliminary count which has seen a voting return of 34.3% across the region. The final week of voting saw a noticeable lift in engagement and Whaingaroa achieved the highest voter return stats of the district at 38.5%. Unlike some other districts our count was up on the last election.
Aksel Bech had a commanding win in the race for Waikato District Mayor, with 12,148 votes, ahead of Jacqui Church on 6,994. It’s a result that gives a mandate for change and as he acknowledged, increases the pressure on the new Mayor to deliver on his campaign promises.
Lisa Thomson has retained her seat for a 4th term, receiving 977 votes to challenger Nicola Laboyrie’s 595.
Raglan Community Board
The Raglan Community Board contest drew a strong field of nine candidates vying for six seats. Preliminary results show the following top six; Satnam Bains (931), Dennis Amoore (930), Nicola Laboyrie (922), Eloise Deller (903), Ross Wallis (901), and Chris Rayner (890) likely to make up the new board.
They are followed by Jasmine Hunter (830), Nick Pearce (526), and Peter Hampton (501).
The exact order of candidates might change with the inclusion of special votes due on Friday 18th October but it’s unlikely to change the actual makeup of the board with a sizeable gap between 6th and 7th place..
Māori Ward Poll
Waikato District voters have voted to remove Māori wards with preliminary results showing 9,917 votes to remove and 9,096 votes to keep them.
The referendum outcome applies to the 2028 and 2031 local body elections so we will still have Maori Wards for the next three years..
The vote does not affect the Waikato Regional Council, which has had Maori wards since 2013 and was not required to vote on their existence at this election.
Tilly Turner has been elected unopposed to the Tai Runga Takiwaa Māori Ward that covers the southern half of the district and
Waikato Regional Council
In the race for the Waikato Regional Council, Gary McGuire (8,508) and Noel Smith (6,809) have grabbed the two leading spots for the Waikato Constituency, ahead of Pamela Storey (5,898) and Rhys Craig (2,588). In a campaign affected by controversy and with accusations of misleading the public directed at Gary McGuire.the result was a decisive victory for McGuire with Council Chair Pamela Storey being voted out.
Tipa Mahuta was returned unopposed to the Ngā Hau E Whā Māori constituency.
The overall result gives McGuire’s Rates Control group 7 of the 14 constituencies in the Waikato Region which looks likely to continue the split that has affected the council for some time and could potentially lead to the Chair being chosen from a hat once again.