Dannevirke: Vow to keep it local

Dannevirke contractor Ernie Christison is standing for the Tararua mayoralty, district council and community board. Photo / Christine McKay

Dannevirke contractor Ernie Christison is standing for the Tararua mayoralty, district council and the community board in the local body elections and is looking forward to sharing his knowledge and skills.

"The direction of Tararua needs to be under the control of local people and I'm passionate about locals doing the work our council requires," he told the Dannevirke News.

"I'm concerned about the inefficiencies and cost over-runs I believe have occurred on major projects and the failure of Infracon, a public asset, really hacked me off. I'm also concerned about the huge rating dollars which get spent on out-of-the-district consultants and engineers, when we have a lot of skill and talent here. We have competent professional people, who should be employed by our council."

Mr Christison said he tendered against "the stacked deck", for 20 years when Infracon was in place.

"They haven't lasted as long as I have," he said.

For the past three years, Mr Christison has been a member of the Dannevirke Community Board and said he had enjoyed serving the wider community on the walkway project, as A&P show traffic controller and a Christmas parade team member.

"I began my own contracting business 34 years ago, first with small machinery and then moving on to larger earthmoving and roading and flood-damage repair work, so I'm looking forward to making it happen here in Tararua," he said.