As I have retired from the Waimakariri mayoralty, I will no longer be attending this site. Thanks for visiting over the years.
I can still be found on Facebook.
I’m Leaving
13 October 2019Christchurch Weeps
15 March 2019I am sure that all in our District are horrified about what has taken place in Christchurch today and our thoughts and prayers are very much with the victims and their families, and with the Muslim community in Greater Christchurch, including Waimakariri, and across New Zealand. We are also thinking of our colleagues in the Christchurch City Council and acknowledge the huge pressure that our Police and medical services are under and thank them for all that they are doing.
This Will Be My Last Term
5 April 2018I have decided that this will be on my last term on the Waimakariri District Council.
The term ends in October 2019 and by then I will have been Mayor for nine years and a member of the Council or its predecessors for 30. I started as a Rangiora Borough Councillor in 1983. Three years later the Borough amalgamated with the surrounding District to form an enlarged Rangiora District Council. The Waimakariri District Council came into being in 1989 and included the former Rangiora District (by them amalgamated with Eyre County), Kaiapoi Borough, Oxford County and the southern part of Hurunui County.
In 1995 I was appointed Deputy Mayor alongside Mayor Janice Skurr. In 2001, I stood down under pressure of work – it had become too much along with my job as Assistant Principal at Rangiora High School. For the next six years I chaired the Rangiora Ward Advisory Board, an appointed predecessor of today’s Rangiora Ashley Community Board.
I was re-elected to the Council in 2007 and won the Mayoralty in the local government elections of 2010, just one month after the 4 September 2010 earthquake.
Today’s media statement follows.
Media Statement from David Ayers, Mayor of Waimakariri
David Ayers Announces Intention to Retire from Waimakariri Mayoralty
The Mayor of Waimakariri, David Ayers, has announced his intention to retire at the end of the current Council term in October 2019.
“Marilyn and I are at a stage in our lives, in our early 70s, where we want to step back rather than to commit a further three years to this role,” he said. “I am looking forward to the next 18 months of Council work but it will then be time for someone else to take on the responsibilities.”
David Ayers was first elected to the Rangiora Borough Council in 1983 and is the only Rangiora Borough Councillor to have served on the Waimakariri District Council. By October next year, he will have spent 30 years as a councillor or mayor – plus six years in the early 2000s chairing the Council’s Rangiora Ward Advisory Board. He was Deputy Mayor between 1995 and 2001 and was elected to the Mayoralty in 2010.
“Coming to the mayoralty one month after the September 2010 earthquake has meant that my time has been dominated by earthquake recovery, earthquake-prone buildings and town centre rebuilding,” he said. “However, the time to look back will be some time in the future. There is plenty ahead of us on the Council over the rest of the term, including the on-going post-earthquake projects in the Kaiapoi and Pines-Kairaki Regeneration Areas.
“I continue to enjoy the role and being out in our fantastic community, but announcing my intentions now gives others plenty of time to consider standing. It is not a job to be taken on lightly as it requires a good 60 hours a week, including most weekends.”
David Ayers
Mobile: 027 648 5677
Home: 03 313 6262
Council: 03 311 8900
Oxford A&P Show on a Warm Autumn Day
31 March 2018Once again the Oxford Show was a Waimakariri magnet. Big crowds turned up along with the McAlpines North Canterbury Pipe Band (pictured).
Festival of Colour in Rangiora
25 March 2018Enshi Photographic Exhibition at Chamber Gallery Rangiora – our Sister City on Display
25 March 2018The Chamber Gallery in the #Rangiora library is now showcasing the work of photographers from Waimakariri’s sister prefecture, Enshi in Hubei Province.
These stunning photos are an example of how sister city relationships can enhance cultural exchanges between New Zealand and China.
Kaiapoi Food Forest is going well
25 March 2018Volunteers helping out at the Kaiapoi Food Forest. Pre-existing and transplanted fruit trees and new plantings of berry bushes and natives have transformed this corner of our Regeneration Areas that was formerly known as one of the Kaiapoi Red Zones.
Waimakariri Youth Council is Recruiting!
17 March 2018Recent Videos on Kaiapoi Regeneration
20 December 2017Do you want to know what is happening? Try going to https://www.waimakariri.govt.nz/services/emergencies-and-recovery/regeneration/related-information/regeneration-videos
The Belgians Have Not Forgotten – Passchendaele Exhibit in the Council Chambers, Rangiora
11 September 2017
The Belgians Have Not Forgotten, an exhibition that reminds us of the huge sacrifices that our country made in the Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917 is on display in the Council Chamber in Rangiora. We have been fortunate to get it near the end of a tour of Australia and New Zealand, between its Christchurch and Dunedin appointments.
This, of course, is the battle’s centenary year. The Passchendaele battlefield is within the Municipality of Zonnebeke, which has a twinning relationship with Waimakariri.
All are welcome. It is open during office hours.
Night Market in Kaiapoi
15 July 2017Big crowd tonight enjoyed food stalls, fire dancing and this afternoon’s ice sculptures.
Ice Sculpture in Kaiapoi
15 July 2017Check out @AyersDavidL’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/AyersDavidL/status/886085310924242944?s=09
Sefton Remembers ANZAC
24 April 2017Sefton Tug of War is Back!
21 April 20172017 Poppy Day
21 April 2017Changes to Speed Limits around Southbrook
17 January 2017Check this link out:
Christmas Tree Festival in the Council Foyer Again!
5 December 2016
Classic American Machinery at Pegasus
6 November 2016Today was the annual Classic American car show at Gladstone Park, Pegasus. There were lots of Mustangs, Corvettes, Impalas and the like, but this 1934 Ford V8 pickup really appealed to us.
Bouncy Castles Gather at Kaiapoi North School!
6 November 2016Kaiapoi North School staged a fundraiser today in the form of a car boot sale. As you can see, there were things for the kids too!
Thank-You!
9 October 2016Thank you to all who have sent messages via different media. If you had asked me six years ago, newly elected to this position and one month after the September quake if I would have survived into a third term, I would have expressed my doubts. However, a unified Council and community have returned much the same council for three terms in a row and for this we are grateful for your support.
The next three years will be dominated by the recovery of the regeneration areas in Kaiapoi and Pines-Kairaki, by a variety of water issues and by planning for current and anticipated growth. Fortunately we have a Council that has one of the soundest financial footings in the country.
Thank you for your support and we look forward to working together as a Waimakariri District to meet our challenges.
FUnd-Raising Breakfast for Karanga Mai
4 October 2016
Lesley Elliott Tells Her Story
3 October 2016
This event is happening in Kaiapoi and Oxford next week. Lesley Elliott tells the story of her daughter Sophie’s relationship with Clayton Weatherston and the signs of abuse that friends and family did not recognise. Lesley has travelled all over New Zealand speaking to raise awareness of the signs of abuse in hope to avoid another tragic death like Sophie’s.
Oxford is Full of People Springing In!
2 October 2016Classic cars have poured into #Oxford for Spring into Oxford – all ages, all makes. The town is buzzing with markets too!
84th Woodend Flower Show
2 October 2016
The amazing variety of daffodils that are out there were on full display at this year’s #Woodend Flower Show. A big crowd turned out for the premier flower show in #Waimakariri.
Council Services Affect You All Day, Every Day
30 September 2016This comes form the NZ Herald and is about Auckland, but it actually applies to the whole country.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/transport/news/article.cfm?c_id=97&objectid=11719192
Canterbury Provincial Brass Band Champs in Rangiora Town Hall
24 September 2016On all afternoon and into the evening using the new removable extension to the stage.
The Birds Are Back in the Ashley-Rakahuri
12 September 2016
This is the time of the year when endangered birds like the wrybill, black-fronted tern and black-billed gulls return to the Ashley-Rakahuri to breed. Local primary schoolchildren have made their own birds – currently they are on the front lawn of the Council building in Rangiora, but expect the flock to land elsewhere in the district in the coming weeks!
Breeding areas are usually marked, so keep well away, and don’t let dogs off the leash. The wrybill nests are isolated almost impossible to see, but the terns and gulls nest in colonies.
David Ayers' Weblog 