Latest news with #Gliddon
Otago Daily Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton: 'We are not spending recklessly'
Mayor Sam Broughton has gone on the front foot over rates increases, saying the Selwyn District Council is not spending recklessly. A 14.2% average rates rise took effect yesterday and follows a 14.9% rise last year. The increases have been met with a barrage of criticism from ratepayers, who are also facing a 25% jump in the amount they pay for water use. There have been many letters to Selwyn Times , social media posts have been scathing and the Taxpayers' Union has also waded into the debate. Broughton, councillors and council staff have borne the brunt of the criticism. Many have said Broughton and councillors will face the wrath of ratepayers at the local body elections in October. Broughton is seeking his fourth term as mayor. Yesterday, the council issued a statement to news media in which Broughton explained the increases. 'Every rate increase is challenging, and I understand the pressure that puts on households,' he said. 'But we're not spending recklessly, we're investing in what our community has told us matters: Fixing roads and maintaining our water and wastewater supplies.' Broughton was referring to the 1500 submissions received in the Long Term Plan process a year ago, which forecasts the council's projects until 2034. It forecast rates would increase 42% between last financial year and 2026–27. The council came under criticism over not consulting with the public for the Annual Plan which rubber stamped this year's 14.2% rates increase. Broughton said another consultation would have been a waste of money. 'Repeating the consultation less than 12 months later would waste time and money when people have already told us to get on with it. 'The message was clear: Focus on roads, water, and waste. So that's exactly where over 80% of this capital budget has gone.' In the council's 2025–26 Annual Plan, which was signed off in a close 5-3 vote, more than 80% of its $145.8m capital budget has been allocated to roads, water, and wastewater services. Broughton's rival for the mayoralty, Malvern Ward councillor Lydia Gliddon, voted against the Annual Plan due to the lack of consultation and no chance for councillors to review spending in it. However, Gliddon did vote with other councillors for the LTP last year which put in train the big rates hikes. Gliddon agreed with the strong focus on infrastructure, but believed there could have been cost savings in some of the council's five strategies, which are budgeted to cost $1.53m and focus on economic development, youth, ageing people, bicultural, and biodiversity. 'Do we need to actually be spending that amount? 'We didn't get a chance to look at that and work out the nuts and bolts of that, and go, actually, it doesn't need to be that much,' Gliddon said. Broughton has also stood his ground to set up a new company to manage water and wastewater in the district, despite 86.1% of 423 submissions not in support of the new company. 'This is about long-term affordability. While we appreciate all feedback, less than 1% of residents submitted to the consultation, which suggests the majority are comfortable with the approach,' he said. Councillors voted 6-5 in favour of setting up the new company. Gliddon, who voted against the new company, said Broughton's comments showed he was 'out of touch' with the community. 'I don't think you can assume that much. People have taken time out of their day to tell you what they think. We've asked them. You need to listen to what they say,' she said. While about 70% of councils have opted to establish council-controlled organisations to manage water, Selwyn was one of three councils to not form a joint CCO with anyone else.
Otago Daily Times
28-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Mayoralty bid fuelled by frustration over lack of transparency
Selwyn district councillor Lydia Gliddon is not one to shy away from a challenge. She spoke to reporter Daniel Alvey about her next move - a crack at the mayoralty. Lydia Gliddon has always loved to cook, but now she is focused on perfecting a new recipe – becoming the next mayor. The 39-year-old former café owner and first-term Malvern Ward councillor will challenge Mayor Sam Broughton in October's local body elections. She is the first sitting councillor to do so since Broughton was elected in 2016. While well-known in Malvern, Gliddon acknowledges the challenge of connecting with residents across the district. As she prepares her campaign, she aims to meet as many people as possible before deciding in July whether she will put her eggs in one basket and just run for the mayoralty and not her existing Malvern seat as well. Gliddon's love for cooking began with her grandmother's biscuit recipes. At 15, she represented Darfield High School in a cooking competition at Westfield Riccarton. After finishing high school, she managed The Daily Grind café in Christchurch. 'I've always been into cooking and food.' In 2016, she bought the Express Yourself Café in Darfield, renaming it The Fat Beagle after her dog, Norman. 'It was like our own wee community, everybody knew each other, customers knew each other,' Gliddon said. 'Norman was the fat beagle and the logo was modelled on him, and how he looked at you when you were cooking in the kitchen.' 'He used to scale the pantry and pull food out. I got home one day and he'd stolen a bag of flour and licked it into the carpet. 'I spent $800 at the vet because he'd hurt his back scaling the pantry.' During her five years as owner, Gliddon rebranded the café, grew the team from seven to 13 staff, and weathered the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Eight months after selling the café, she successfully ran for a Malvern Ward seat in 2022 – a move driven by a strong passion for her community. 'I've always had this element of public service. You don't just live in a place, you live in a community, and you need to give back to that. 'I need a purpose and I need something to do,' Gliddon said. Alongside her work in hospitality, Gliddon also spent years working on farms. Born in Kirwee, she moved around the Malvern area with her family before settling on a small block of land with her husband Matt and six-year-old daughter Hazel. They currently raise about 40 sheep and 20 cows each year. 'I love being outside, I love the land, I love animals, and they all go hand in hand together.' At 18, she trained as a snowboard and ski instructor at Mt Hutt, later working a season at Canyons Resort in Utah. On returning to New Zealand, she split her time between winters at Mt Hutt and summers on her grandparents' farm. Eventually, she transitioned to full-time farm work, while keeping winter sports as a hobby. She also managed Gnomes ski shop in Darfield for eight years before buying the café. At 20, Gliddon became the youngest-ever president of the Kirwee Netball Club, where she played from age 16 until about four years ago. 'There was an ultimatum that went on in our house (to stop playing netball) after my second knee surgery.' She now helps run the Future Ferns netball programme with Springfield/Sheffield Netball, the same programme her daughter Hazel participates in. In her two-and-a-half years on council, Gliddon said she has grown significantly but also become increasingly frustrated. She is proud of efforts like helping save the Sheffield pool, which is now moving to community ownership after facing demolition. 'I firmly believe that if it wasn't for me pushing for that and opening the doors for the community, they probably would have had a demoed pool by now.' But alongside her growth on the council, her frustration also has increased, triggering the mayoral bid. 'I always believe that you don't sit around and moan about something, you do something.' Gliddon said the lack of transparency with the 2024-34 Long Term Plan (LTP) was a particular point of frustration She raised concerns about the Waikirikiri Alpine to Ocean Trail – a $20 million cycleway – which was not included in public consultation documents, despite its scale. Gliddon pushed for the project to be listed as a key decision in the LTP and reiterated her concerns during council debates. 'I said 'wouldn't it just be better if we were open and transparent', and we would have got better feedback from people. 'The actual concept is great but I don't think our general ratepayer should be paying for it.' While the council eventually decided not to fully fund the project, it retained $5m for planning and to keep the cycleway project alive. Despite misgivings, Gliddon voted for the LTP, as it included key projects she had fought for. However, she opposed spending on items such as $3.7m for expanding council offices, $9m for an economic development strategy, and $5m for investigating low-nitrate water sources. 'I fought for a lot of things within that LTP, and there were a lot of things I don't agree with. I felt like, at the end, to say no to the LTP was saying no to the decisions I had fought so hard to be in there.' While she did accept last year's rates rise of 14.9%, Gliddon took issue with the lack of a public consultation on the 2025 annual plan – a key checkpoint between long term plans, which are reviewed every three years. Last year, the council controversially decided to skip consultation for 2025, leaving no opportunity for community feedback on the latest rates rise. At the moment, Selwyn is looking at a 14.2% average rates increase, pending any changes resulting from the establishment of a water services council controlled organisation (WSCCO). Under the new model, water billing (excluding stormwater) will be handled by the WSCCO rather than the council. Gliddon was one of three councillors to vote against the proposal. 'For council to make a decision not to have an annual plan is not good enough. 'We're not a private business. We are there to act on behalf of the community,' she said. Gliddon said even without a consultation, councillors should have had a chance to review the budgets before they were set in June. 'A lot of other councils have reviewed their annual plans. Some of them may not have consulted on it, but they've reviewed it, and they've adjusted their rates.' In April, Gliddon was also one of five councillors to vote against establishing the WSCCO. She argued the model would be too expensive and lacked the benefits of scale that would come with regional partnerships. She said she understands why many in the community are upset, especially after 86.1% of public submissions opposed the WSCCO. 'I actually feel like a lot of that was just dismissed and pushed to the side, and I actually found a lot of that really valid. So, of course the community is going to feel hurt.'
Otago Daily Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Lydia Gliddon announces Selwyn mayoralty bid
Selwyn district councillor Lydia Gliddon will challenge Sam Broughton for the mayoralty. Gliddon, who represents the Malvern Ward, said going up against Broughton, who is aiming for a record-equalling fourth term, will be a challenge. It will be first time Broughton will have a sitting councillor challenging him since he first became mayor in 2016. Regardless of the outcome, the council table will see new faces. Four sitting councillors are not standing again and the Ellesmere and Malvern wards structure will change from two seats to one each. There will also be two councillors at-large to vote for. Gliddon is undecided whether she will also run for her current Malvern Ward seat alongside the mayoral bid. One of the major issues for voters is high rates rises, with double-digit increases expected over the next three years. The average rates will rise by more than 42% – with 14.9% this year and, pending any change due to the establishment of a water services council-controlled organisation, 14.2% in 2025/26, and then 13.3% forecasted for 2026/27. Gliddon, a first-term councillor, voted in favour of the 2024-34 Long Term Plan which set out the rates rises. She was expecting to be able to review the upcoming rise for 2025/26 as part of an annual plan. But she disagreed with the council's decision to not consult over this year's annual plan and rates rise. 'In my mind, it's business as usual . . . I still think it's really important for the community to have a say in where their money goes.' Despite this, she claimed the council has ignored residents views at times, citing the decision to establish a WSCCO, which 86.1% of the 423 public submissions did not want and Gliddon voted against. 'What is the point in going out for consultation if it's just going to be taken as lip service. 'You can understand why there is so much apathy towards the council when you do things like that,' Gliddon said. She said if elected, her focus will be on reducing rates rises and doing the basics well. Gliddon cited the Waikirikiri Alpine to Ocean Trail, a cycleway connecting Arthur's Pass to Lake Ellesmere, which is estimated to cost up to $47.8m as one example of a project that should be reconsidered. Gliddon said the council should not be putting time and money into the project. She also wants to go through the council's budgets 'line by line' to find savings. Gliddon, who is running as an independent, said her personal political views lean towards the centre right, but on council she is apolitical. Gliddon, her husband Matt, and daughter Hazel live on a small block of land at Russells Flat near Sheffield. Before becoming a councillor, Gliddon owned the Fat Beagle cafe in Darfield for five years. She took about an eight month break between selling the cafe and being elected to council in 2022. Gliddon said, over the last year, her frustration with the council has grown. She said she has a lack of trust in some decisions and the council's direction. 'I feel really sad to say this, but I feel I've lost a bit of trust, and I don't think that's a good sign. 'I don't feel okay about where we are going and if I don't feel okay, I can tell you that the community doesn't feel okay,' Gliddon said. She spent the first year of her term as councillor learning and understanding processes. 'The first 12 months, you are a bit of a deer in headlights . . . and I think it's over the past year and a half that I've got a good grip on what's happening.'
