New long term plan for Whangārei District Councillor Nick Connop with new baby

WDC councillor Nick Connop, partner Karen Lee and baby Logan Connop. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The enormity of the controversial Whangārei District Council Oruku conference centre decision process has been dwarfed with the arrival of a tiny new son for Nick Connop, Whangārei's youngest elected councillor.

"I kept hoping, just hold off being born long enough for me to be able to be part of the council's decision meeting on Oruku Landing and conference and event centre," 36-year-old Connop said of the November 26 decision meeting.

Logan Connop (Ngāti Pūkenga) started making his way into the world less than 24 hours after his father voted for WDC to abandon funding of the centre, among nine of 14 councillors who did so. Eighty per cent of the 5000-plus submissions WDC received ahead of the decision wanted this.

Connop said the pressure on councillors over the decision was intense.

"People were saying they wouldn't vote for councillors in the next election if we voted for Oruku centre," Connop said.

"People who put in submissions were saying they didn't believe council would listen."
Connop spent time reassuring submitters they would be heard.

He really wanted his vote in the mix. He had also thought of contingencies, should he suddenly have to leave the Friday decision meeting early. These included watching the livestreamed meeting on his phone.

But Logan's arrival journey started early on Saturday morning, allowing just enough time for the meeting.

It also allowed time for the couple to have a final pre-baby dinner out in the city that night, to mark the end of the intensely polarised Oruku centre process, each of the couple's birthdays - Nick's that day and Lee's on November 21.

Karen Lee (Ngāti Pūkenga) and Connop's new baby was born at 7.26am on Sunday November 28, less than 48 hours after the Oruku decision - and two weeks ahead of his due December 8 date. He weighed 3.03kg and was 49 centimetres long.

The Oruku Landing conference and event centre debate raged ahead of what would have been an unusual amendment to WDC's 2021-2031 Long Term Plan adding up to an extra seven per cent extra WDC rates rise next year.

Having Logan now means a new long term plan for Connop and Lee - this time on the domestic front.

Sustainability is a key part of this plan.

WDC councillor Nick Connop speaks at last month's Oruku Conference Centre meeting - less than 48 hours later he and partner Karen Lee's first child Logan was born.

New Zealand-made cotton and manuka-infused disposable nappies are being used for now, in the early days of Logan's life.

"It's all about being realistic at the start and getting used to things," Lee, an early childhood educator, said during the Northern Advocate visit when Logan was just 10 days old.

Two drawers of reusable cloth nappies and liners are in residence for when Logan is bigger.

Lee said using solely disposable nappies meant putting an average of two tonnes of waste into landfill for the roughly the first two years of a child's life and they did not want that.

"We'll probably end up with a mix of the disposables at night and reusable cloth nappies during the day," she said.

That would mean a 75 per cent reduction in nappies to landfill.

Waste minimisation is an ongoing life approach, something Connop constantly lobbies for in his role. "We used to put a rubbish bag out every four to five weeks," Connop said.

But that's become one bag in a week for Logan's first days of life.

"We'll get that a bit more under control as time goes on," Connop said.

He and Lee met over waste – Lee had set up a community waste cleanup group and Connop, also already involved in community waste cleanups, attended.

The couple constantly recycle. They have a compost bin, worm farm and bokashi composting unit (for meat waste). They buy much of their food through a Whangārei zero waste refillery. Their meat is packaged into containers they supply to the butcher they buy from.

And "99 per cent" of Logan's clothes are second hand.

The couple adopted traditional Māori pregnancy and birthing knowledge for Logan's birth.
Lee has made an ipu whenua out of clay. This is a container which will be used for Logan's placenta to be returned to Papatūānuku on his family whenua at Pakikaikutu, Tamaterau.

Connop said being a new father adds extra dimension to his role as a councillor, bringing first-hand experience to, in particular, matters affecting families.

The huge demands on Connop's time from being part of WDC's Oruku centre decision have changed shape into the new realm of first-time fatherhood.

"It's really exciting. I have so much respect for Karen," Connop said.

"It's been life changing."