Councillor Rob Mackle To Run For Ashburton Mayor

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 7:37 pm
Article: Jonathan Leask - Local Democracy Reporter

Ashburton councillor Rob Mackle says he intends to run for the mayoralty, making the announcement a day before current mayor Neil Brown declares his intentions.

Mackle said he was not going to be make any grand promises of major changes if he succeeds in becoming mayor in the local elections later this year.

“I am more than happy with the way the council has been tracking.”

Mackle said while the council faces some big issues, if elected as mayor, he would take a team approach as “you are only one of the 10 on the council”.

A first-term councillor, Mackle said he would not re-stand in the Western Ward.

“I’m all in or all out”.

He is looking to follow his younger brother Craig who is in his second term as Kaikōura Mayor.

Mackle joined the council in a by-election in the Western Ward in May 2023 following the sudden death of Rodger Letham in December 2022.

Latham had just been elected for his second term as councillor when he died.

Mackle is the second person to announce their intention to run for the mayoralty ahead of nominations opening on July 1.

Jeff Ryan told Local Democracy Reporting in February he would run for mayor, with the goal of building a bypass around Ashburton.

Incumbent Neil Brown is set to announce on Wednesday whether he intends to stand for a third term.

Brown has been on the council since 2004 and was elected mayor in 2019.

It’s understood Brown's announcement will be made at the council meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Brown dethroned Donna Favel for the mayoralty in the 2019 election, when Braam and Tony Todd also ran for Mayor, and then in 2022 he beat the only other mayoral candidate, Jeff Swindley, by almost 9000 votes.

The local elections are set to take place on October 11.

Meanwhile, a report from Local Government NZ suggests replacing postal voting with a voting booth system is vital for the future of local body elections.

It's one of 20 draft recommendations made by the Electoral Reform Working Group (ERWG) in its Draft Position paper released this week.

The document included a raft of proposed changes to help shape the future of local body elections and increase voter turnout.

The voter return in Ashburton in 2022 was just over 50%.

The draft recommendations are suggested for the 2028 local elections.

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