Four contenders for Mayoralty

Press, 3 September 1977, Page 3

Four contenders for Mayoralty

XT J ll " 6 ? ma * n contenders for the Christchurch i " ay e been joined by an independent candiand 1974 ° St <^epos ' t " hen seeking the post in 1971

The candidates are the sitting Mayor (Mr H. G. Hav, Citizens’ Association), Mr H. A. Clark (Labour Party), Mr P. J. Heal (Values Party), and Mr C. M. Hansen (Independent). Mr Hansen gained 325 votes in the 1974 election, down from his otal of 594 three years earlier. This year, he is also standing for; the Christchurch Citv Coun-' ci! in the South Ward and! for seats on the North I Canterbury Hospital Board? the Lyttelton Harbour Board,; and the Christchurch Trans-1 port Board. There are 52 candidates for the 19 council seats, five more than in 1974. The Values party has fielded 13 candidates, up from seven three years ago. Three sitting councillors, two Labour and one Citizens, are not standing this' term. They are Mrs Mary I Batchelor, the member of Parliament for Avon, Mrs Nancy Sutherland, and Mr B. J. Britten, who announced his withdrawal this week. Aside from Mr Hansen's entry into the field, there are no changes in council candidates announced earlier this winter. But there are some surprises outside the council election, including a candidate for the Lyttelton Har-i hour Board and a retirement! from the board. A member of the board i i

■for 21 years, Mr L. G. Amos, who has represented the combined Waimairi County-Riccarton Borough, . is not seeking re-election. ■ Mr Amos was chairman of the board for three years. i His local-body service goes back more than 30 years, in- : eluding membership of the City Council and the ChristI church-Lyttelton Road Tuninel Authority, of which he I was a foundation member. I Another former chairman |of the board, Mr F. I. Sutton, who has been out of ; public life for several years, 'is seeking a return He has 1 been nominated for the com- ■ bined district of Lyttelton Borough and the counties of Akaroa. Wairewa, and Mount Herbert. When he was on the board previously. Mr Sutton was one of the City memibers, representing the Citizens’ Association, and was chairman when he lost his , seat because of, as he put it, “the road through Hagley Park, which had nothing to do with the board.” In the Riccarton Borough, Mr R. W. J. Harrington has been returned unopposed for his fourth term as Mayor. Of the nine candidates standing in Riccarton, all but one are members of the ■ Riccarton Citizens’ Association. which has a strong , link with businesses in the 'area. The other candidate is I Mr M. .1. Conway (Values i Party). In Lyttelton, Mr R. H. Duff (Independent), deputy mayor for 12 years, took office as mayor yesterday when Mr J. B. Collett retired after 18 years in office. Mr Duff will contest the Mayoralty with Mr M. E. Foster, a Labour councillor and secretary of the Waterfront Workers’ Union. | The Mayor of Rangiora '(Mr J. A. McKenzie) and the

Mayor of Kaiapoi (Mr B. O. Williams) havfe been reelected unopposed. Outside Christchurch City, metropolitan local bodies 'and outlying counties are returning large numbers of sitting members or are putting up new members who will [not be opposed. In Ellesmere County, the ; ouncil’s 13 seats will all be returned to sitting members and in Paparua, of a possible 20 newcomers, there ar only nine, compared with 17 in 1974. Some county clerks put the dearth down to a lack of issues. They said that controversy produced candidates, none perpetrated the status quo. They were reluctant to call it apathy. Only two Akaroa ridings !oi a total of seven will have no election. Akaroa Town is putting up four new candidates for two seats.