Tania Kerr appointed Hastings deputy mayor

Hastings District Council's new deputy mayor is Mohaka ward councillor Tania Kerr.

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst has appointed long-serving Mohaka ward councillor and Hastings rural community board representative Tania Kerr as deputy mayor.

The appointment was announced through an extraordinary agenda item at yesterday's final full Hastings District Council meeting for the year.

Mrs Kerr would replace acting deputy mayor Simon Nixon who had filled the position since June this year following the departure of former mayor Lawrence Yule and councillor Adrienne Pierce.

Mrs Hazlehurst thanked Mr Nixon for his support over the last six months, and said she was delighted to announce Mrs Kerr's appointment.

"She is a hardworking, experienced councillor and an experienced community leader on the rural committee.

"She's also a long-time chair of the finance and monitoring committee as well as a council representative on other committees."

Mrs Kerr, who had been on the council for nearly 10 years, said she was honoured and delighted to be named for the role, and acknowledged Mr Nixon's contribution in the interim.

"I am honoured that you have put trust in me to do this role, and I'm looking forward to serving our community in a different role."

She said it would be a case of business as usual, supporting the mayor and the council as best she could.

The appointment would mean the committee structures would need to be dealt with and Mrs Hazlehurst said that would be done as early as was practical next year.

"We have already had an informal look at the structures and how we delegate roles and that will be brought back to the retreat we will be having at the end of January.

"It's about aligning the best leadership model to the skills and expertise around the table to ensure everyone has an opportunity for leadership and to share the load.

"It will be different to what we have now and gives us lots to think about over the holidays."

Mr Nixon said he was a bit disappointed, but not surprised, at the announcement.

"I always knew it was for six months and that it might not last but had hoped it would. I thought I brought a bit of freshness to council."

He said it had been difficult to really make his mark in the time that he had, being in only a temporary role and with uncertainty about what would happen at the by-election.

Although it was within the rules for Mrs Hazlehurst to select the deputy, he wondered whether had the councillors voted - as happened when he was selected as acting deputy - if he may have secured the position.

He had hoped whoever got the job would have been an urban councillor, to address the situation he had seen in his time on council where some decision-making was driven from a rural perspective, despite the council serving a largely urban ratepayer population.

"I thought this could have been an opportunity to shift that balance."

He said Mrs Kerr was very capable and he wished her every success.