Jim Boult is new Queenstown Lakes mayor

Saturday, 8 October 2016

The new Queenstown Lakes mayor is Queenstown businessman Jim Boult, with 5531 votes. 

The second highest polling candidate was Lyal Cocks, of Wanaka, with 2409 votes.

The results are provisional, based on 10,899 votes, an estimated 98 per cent of those cast.

There will be a full recount of the votes next week, including all votes received in Queenstown and Wanaka on the last day of polling, and special votes.

The official declaration of results is expected to be made by October 14.

**READ MORE:

* Men's ballet and 'Ladies a Plate' as Queenstown Lakes Mayor signs off

* Five mayoral nominations for Queenstown Lakes District Council

* Jim Boult to stand for Queenstown Lakes mayor; Cocks prepared for battle

* Queenstown Lakes mayoral candidates spend up to win votes

* Vanessa van Uden honestly reflects on six years as Queenstown Lakes Mayor

* Police asked to investigate complaint from Queenstown mayoral race candidate Jim Boult**

The elected Queenstown councillors are Tony Hill, Alexa Forbes, Valerie Miller, Craig (Ferg) Ferguson, Penny Clark and John MacDonald (all Queenstown ward), Calum Macleod, Ella Lawton and Ross McRobie (Wanaka ward).

The Arrowtown councillor is Scott Stevens, the only candidate in the ward.

​Jim Boult alleged a dirty tricks campaign against him and laid a complaint with the police.

A police media team spokeswoman said this week: 'The enquiry is still ongoing so we can't comment any further at this stage.'

Last week, a media spokeswoman said police were 'talking to an individual about concerns they have raised'.

BOULT CELEBRATES WITH MOET CHAMPAGNE

Boult said he was 'delighted' with the number of votes he got.

'By my calculation, that is 53 percent of the total cast,' he said.

'Right now I am sitting with family having a glass of Moet. We have a group of friends and supporters coming around tonight to help celebrate.

'Tomorrow I intend to park my bum on the couch and watch Bathurst, as I do every year.

'On Monday, I will be meeting with [council chief executive] Mike Theelan. I can't wait to get into it. I am enormously enthusiastic.

'I am grateful for the support of the community. I think that is a reflection of the issues I have been raising and the way I've conducted my campaign,' he said.

Boult said he also intended to meet with the elected councillors next week to map out a way forward. 

He had not yet got his head around who he would like to nominate as deputy mayor.

Although it is not a convention, the position has always fallen to the highest polling Wanaka candidate, which this year is Calum Macleod (3110 votes, ahead of Ella Lawton on 2459).

Boult said he wanted to congratulate the elected councillors, who are a mixture of new and old faces.

'They are a great group,' he said.

'I also want to tip my hat to [retiring mayor] Vanessa van Uden, who has put her heart and soul into the community for the last six years.'

Boult said he was pleased with the voting turnout, which was recorded as 51.58 per cent at close of polls on Saturday.

'Well done for getting out and voting,' he said.

COCKS SEEKS SOLACE ON GOLF COURSE

Wanaka mayoral candidate Lyal Cocks intended to deal with his election disappointment by playing a round of golf.

'I am obviously very disappointed in the result. But I have contributed for over 12 years as an elected member. I have had a great run. I have put my heart and soul into the district for the last few years. Now I am on to a new chapter. I would like to still be involved in the community. I will see what comes along, look for other opportunities,' Cocks said.

Cocks, the former deputy mayor and a retired senior Navy officer, had hoped to be first mayor of the district from Wanaka, despite Queenstown's voting population being much larger than Wanaka.

He decided not stand as a councillor again and focused solely on the mayoralty.

Cocks acknowledged the Queenstown voter population was bigger than Wanaka's.

'The polling is interesting. I would have expected some of the other candidates to have polled a lot higher, to have split the vote. I also probably didn't get the support I wanted from Wanaka. But I think the new council is going to be really good,' he said.

Cocks said there were two things he was happy to have achieved during his terms in office.

'The key thing has been to follow the 2020 planning process, to have got to where we are now. We have got Wanaka now all laid out, zoned for what people said they wanted in 2002. We got that into structure plans and then into the district plan. I know it is not very exciting stuff . . . but we now have zoning for growth for the next 30 years,' he said.

The other thing he was excited about was achieving the new Wanaka Recreation Centre and swimming pool (under construction).

'I did 10 years work on that. There were a lot of challenges on the way. I hold that up as one of my significant achievements,' he said.

Cocks said he was also taking heart from Wanaka itself. 'We do live in a great area. We have to remember that because there are some parts of the world that are not very nice places to live at the moment.' 

ANGUS TO SIT ON ROCK BY THE SEA

Lowest polling mayoral candidate Al Angus, of Glenorchy, is saddened by the election result. He wanted Wanaka's Lyal Cocks to win.

'I met him on the campaign trail and thought he was a good man,' Angus said.

Angus polled 654 votes, well down on the 1540 he polled in 2013, when he stood unsuccessfully against Vanessa Van Uden.

'I'm off to the West Coast to sit on my rock and fill myself with mussels from the sea,' Angus said of his plans now the polls had closed. 

Angus said his life was perfect the way it was and he only stood to try and get a fair go for everyone.

'To be honest, it would be the worst thing that would happen in my life and the best thing for the community if I got elected,' he said.

He said he had mixed feelings about the result.

'I am really sad, not only for the people who supported me, but for the people who supported Lyal. I am disappointed for them. They supported a completely different community thing . . . It is between the selfish and the selfless and unfortunately for me, the selfish got it. That is my opinion,' Angus said. 

Angus predicted ratepayers were 'in for a rough time for the next three years'.

'Council, contrary to belief, is not a corporation. It is a service.'

He was concerned about the potential for asset sales during the next term.

'In this time of immense prosperity, we should be building them up . . . I can only hope the councillors who have been elected will have the guts to stand their ground,' he said.

Mayoral candidates Roger Tompkins and John Mann could not be contacted for comment.

THE RESULTS

BOULT, Jim 5,531; COCKS, Lyal 2,409; TOMPKINS, Roger 954; MANN, John 845; ANGUS, Al 654; Informal 6; Blank voting papers 192.

Councillors Queenstown-Wakatipu Ward (6 vacancies) 

HILL, Tony 3,258; FORBES, Alexa 2,847; MILLER, Valerie Independent 2,695; FERGUSON, Craig (Ferg) 2,562; CLARK, Penny Independent 2,233; MACDONALD, John 2,062; ANDERSON, Terri 1,967; FAUL, Peter Independent 1,923; AOAKE, Merv 1,599; STAMERS-SMITH, Simon 1,414; TURNBULL, Hudson 1,303; GLADDING, Niki Independent 1,238; RAMSAY, Michael 961; MARUERA, Tamati Daniel 666; Informal 6; Blank voting papers 99.

Councillors Wanaka Ward (3 vacancies) 

MACLEOD, Calum 3,110; LAWTON, Ella 2,459; MCROBIE, Ross 1,850; BATTSON, Jude 1,670; SMITH, Quentin 1,560; Informal 6; Blank voting papers 56

Wanaka Community Board (4 vacancies) 

TAYLOR, Ed 2,357; BROWN, Rachel 2,306; SMITH, Quentin 2,050; HARRISON, Ruth 1,745; LLOYD, Bryan 1,724; O'CONNOR, Michael Independent 1,435; BRUCE, Barry 1,272; Informal 0; Blank voting papers 100