Whangārei Heads Citizens Association deputy chairwoman Jan Boyes said she was not surprised at the area scoring the top turnout in the district.
“It shows democracy is alive and well in Whangārei Heads,” Boyes said.
The ward’s turnout was the second highest in Northland, bettered only by the 60.4% turnout in Kaipara’s Wairoa General Ward.
Parua Bay resident and former Whangārei Deputy Mayor Greg Innes said the district had long been actively involved in local democracy.
Whangārei Heads has five community ratepayer-type groups, including at Parua Bay, Ocean Beach, Urquharts Bay and Patāua, among a population of 7750 people across 27sq km.
“Whangārei Heads people want to have their say on the social, cultural and environmental aspects of the area. That’s a strong driver,” Innes said.
“I’m really proud of the ward’s top voter turnout achievement.”
Innes has lived in Parua Bay and been voting there for almost 50 years.
He said Whangārei Heads had always been great at participating in community democracy.
Innes emphasised the importance of voting.
“It’s incredibly important that local government represents the views of the local community.”
Boyes said people were well-informed and knew how to take part in council democratic processes through making submissions on the development of policies and rules, such as around freedom camping and local speed limits.
At this stage, there are 123 votes separating the ward’s top two candidates.
Sunday’s preliminary results show the community has chosen Parua Bay lawyer Tangiwai Baker (Tuwharetoa, Te Rarawa), who currently has 1369 votes.
But she’s not yet counting her chickens and is awaiting the final election results.
Baker said she was unsure how much the margin might change when special votes are counted.
Parua Bay resident and former Onerahi community police station senior constable Spence Penney is second on 1246 votes.
Penney is pragmatic about his situation and the Parua Bay resident of almost three decades was looking forward to the ward equalling or bettering its 2025 voter turnout at the next local elections.
Whangārei Heads General Ward candidate Spence Penney.
The ward’s leading turnout compares with Whangārei’s 40% overall across the district.
Whangārei District Council’s four other general ward results show Mangakahia-Maungatapere on 48.9%, Bream Bay 45.4%, Hikurangi-Coastal 44.8% and Whangārei Urban on 36.8%. Whangārei District Māori Ward’s had a 28.6% turnout.
National voter turnout was 38.01%, based on the provisional results.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.