Chance for rural voices to be heard

A decades-old tradition continues in Waipā this weekend when elected members hit the road to meet rural residents of their constituency.

For about the 20th time, the Cambridge Community Board Rural Tour is set to go ahead on Saturday 7 May and Saturday 14 May, with community board members and councillors heading to Rural Halls in the Maungatautari Ward.

The tradition was established about 24 years ago when the community board identified a need to give rural residents a chance to have their voice heard. This was because when the meeting starts at 6pm every month, many people are just ending their work day.

Cambridge Community Board will spearhead the tour which includes Waipa Mayor Jim Mylchreest, Deputy Mayor Liz Stolwyk, Councillor Susan O’Regan, and Waipa Group Manager - Service Delivery Dawn Inglis.

Waikato Regional councillors Andrew MacPherson and Stu Kneebone are also poised to join the tour to provide information from a regional point of view.

Mylchreest said the tour would present a great opportunity for rural residents in the Maungatautari Ward to link in with their representatives and discuss any issues or concerns they might have.

He said rural residents have long expressed concerns about the state of rural roads, lack of proper communication systems for emergency situations, rates and services among others, with the tours aiming to help give a voice to these matters.

“We are there to listen to these and any other issues of concern our people have. We aim to find a way to assist and to shed some light on what may otherwise be unknown,” Mylchreest said.

The tour kicks off at 9am on Saturday at Hora Hora Hall. It then moves to Maungatautari Hall at 10.30am, Monavale Hall at 12 noon and ends in Kairangi Hall at 1.30pm. The following week (14 May) the tour will start at 9am at Whitehall Hall, Te Miro Hall at 10.30am and finishes at Fencourt Hall at 12 noon.

The Community Board updates the residents on what has happened over the last year since the last tour at each hall followed by questions and answer sessions.

Flyers will be distributed to residents in the RD1, RD2, RD3 and RD4 rural delivery zones about the rural tour, and people should also keep an eye for notifications on Antenno and local Facebook groups for further updates, Mylchreest said.

The tour was skipped in 2020, the only time in the past 24 years, due to COVID-19 Level 4 lockdown