Mayor Nigel Bowen has made his picks for Deputy Mayor and committee chairs for the next three years.

Councillor Scott Shannon, who was elected in the Pleasant Point – Temuka Ward will be Deputy Mayor from the inaugural council meeting on Thursday.

The standing committee chairs will be the following:

• Infrastructure: Councillor Sally Parker

• Commercial and Strategy: Councillor Peter Burt

• Environmental Services: Councillor Michelle Pye

• Community Services: Councillor Stacey Scott

Mayor Bowen said that in speaking to all the councillors over the past week he was excited by the calibre of candidates chosen by the district’s electorate:

“It really speaks to the strength of our local democracy that I’ve got a number councillors round the table that I’m confident in putting straight into leadership positions,” he said.

“Scott has served as a Justice of the Peace since 2013, and is a well-known in Temuka and the wider area. I think it brings a nice balance to the council to have the deputy come from outside of Timaru.

“I’m equally excited with being able to appoint newcomers Michelle and Stacey straight into chair roles, chairing Environmental and Community Services respectively.

“They bring a suite of business and community skills and experience to the governance leadership and also bring a real rural flavour to the mix, with both involved in farming enterprises in South Canterbury.

“The choice of leadership for the Timaru District balances both rural and urban with Councillors Parker and Burt taking the other senior roles.

“The next three years will bring immense challenges for local government and our community, and it is imperative that both our governance leadership team and team as a whole work hard for the good of the district.”

Shannon said that it would be an honour and a privilege to serve the district of Timaru as Deputy Mayor.

“I’m very much looking forward to working with Mayor Nigel, TDC staff, and a remarkably talented team of councillors over the next three years.

“We have plenty of challenges ahead of us but the future for our district is exciting. I'm proud to be representing our communities as we strive to make the district New Zealand's very best place to live, work, and play.”

The first meeting of the 2022-2025 Council term will be on Thursday 27 October from 3pm. The meeting is open to the public, a livestream is available on the council website or youtube.com/timarudc. You can also catch meetings on demand on the YouTube channel.

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