ACROSS THE REGION

October 2025

Chair's Message

Tēnā koutou and welcome to this special elections edition of Across the Region for 2025. You’ll notice it’s a bit different from other editions, including no councillor messages. This is partly to ensure we comply with election rules, and partly to ensure everyone has the key information they need to vote in local government elections. 

Local government elections may feel like an inconvenience, but it is crucial you vote. While central government gets a lot of attention, local government arguably has a bigger impact on your everyday life. It’s the work Horizons does which helps to protect your businesses, properties and homes with flood protection. Our pest control programmes assist farmers to have productive operations and work to guard precious indigenous biodiversity sites. Our environmental monitoring network is a key tool to know how to stay safe during flood events. District and city councils also provide key services you use every day. The people you select to be around council tables will make key decisions which you will notice on a daily basis. 

Councils across the country, including Horizons, are doing more than ever to help with voting this time around. The orange voting bins you’ll see in shopping centres and popular locations is the most obvious one. You should easily be able to deposit your completed voting papers in one when you’re out and about, rather than hunting down a post box. Horizons also offered candidates the chance to film a short video, answering questions about why they think they’re right for the role, what they see as the big  challenge for Horizons, and how they would tackle that challenge. You can view them all online here.

This will be my last Across the Region before I stand down as a councillor. Serving as a councillor for 12 years, and chair of Horizons for six of those, has been a privilege and an honour. In this time, Horizons has done a massive amount of work. New flood protection assets have been built. Public transport networks have been improved, including launching the first fully electric bus network in Australasia. Our relationships with iwi and hapū have been enhanced. We have invested strongly into science, biodiversity, biosecurity, environmental data, and more. 

While you're here....

We're doing some work to make our website more user-friendly. This includes organising how we present information so it is easier to find what you need when you visit our website.

We have a short 'tree test study' you can take part in. You will be asked questions about where you think certain information should live on the website, then navigate through menus (aka the site tree) until you find that information. 

The study should take 10-15 minutes to complete. 

Elections 2025

We are reaching the pointy end of local government elections season, with voting now open. Depending on where you live, you’ll be voting for: 

• Mayor
• City/district councillors
• Community board members
• Horizons councillor or councillors.

You will also get to vote in two referendums – one on if you want to keep or abolish your city/district council Māori ward or wards, and another about if you want to keep or abolish Horizons’ Māori constituencies. 

How to vote

Most people will have got their voting papers in their mailbox before 22 September. Once that happens, just follow these steps: 

1. Do your research on candidates. This can include attending ‘meet the candidates’ meetings, reading news stories, looking through the candidate profiles booklet, viewing candidate videos online, heading to the website policy.nz, or asking friends and whānau. 
2. Fill in your voting papers. The great thing about postal voting is that you have plenty of time to make a considered choice. Make sure to check both sides of your voting papers so you don’t miss any voting opportunities. 
3. Send your voting papers. You can either put them in a post box, drop them off to your city/ district council, or find one of the orange voting bins around the region. The orange bins are in key locations such as supermarkets, petrol stations and hardware stores. However, you cannot take your voting paper to a Horizons office or service centre. 

Māori constituencies referendum

Horizons Regional Council has had two Māori constituencies – Raki Māori and Tonga Māori – since the 2022 elections. The Tonga Māori constituency encompasses the Palmerston North, Horowhenua and Tararua general constituencies, while Raki Māori encompasses the Manawatū- Rangitīkei, Whanganui and Ruapehu general constituencies. Horizons is required to hold a referendum during the 2025 council elections on the future of these constituencies. 

Sometimes called a Māori ward, a Māori constituency is where only those on the Māori Parliamentary electoral roll vote for the candidates in that constituency. People on the Māori roll in the Horizons Region have the chance to vote for candidates who stand for their relevant constituency. People on the Māori roll, like all other voters, get to vote in one constituency. 

For example, someone on the Māori roll living in Ruapehu would vote for someone to represent them in the Raki Māori constituency. Someone in Ruapehu on the general roll, however, would vote for someone in the Ruapehu constituency. 

Regardless of their constituency, every councillor takes an oath to represent the whole community. Horizons councillors are dedicated to working for all residents and ratepayers. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re on the Māori or general roll – everyone enrolled in the Horizons Region gets the chance to vote in the referendum. If you’re not enrolled yet, you’ll need to cast a special vote to take part in the referendum. 

The referendum is a legal requirement from central government. Horizons is required to apply the results of the referendum for council elections in 2028 and 2031. Regardless of the result, we will have our Māori constituency councillors for the upcoming three-year council term. 

Massive year for Catchment Operations

Our Catchment Operations team tackles a wide variety of mahi, including constructing and maintaining flood protection structures, pest plant and animal control, and helping catchment care groups and others in the community with riparian planting and stream fencing. 

They recently published some statistics about their work during the 2024/25 financial year, and they make for impressive reading! 

The Great Tōtata Reserve Whānau Challenge

Tōtara Reserve, the Horizons Region’s only regional park, is a gem nestled in the heart of the Pohangina Valley. It is known for its rich biodiversity, accessible lowland forest and family summer camping holidays. 

This year, Horizons Regional Council is excited to introduce The Great Tōtara Reserve Whānau Challenge, replacing the Open Day that has been a firm favourite for the past two years. But don’t worry, this event is still packed with lots of family-friendly fun! 

Teams of up to four will take on ten interactive challenges designed to educate, entertain, and inspire, including identifying pest animal tracks and native trees, packing an emergency grab bag, constructing a wētā motel and much more! 

It’s not a race, but there will be prizes for top performers and spot prizes throughout the day. Whether you’re competitive or just keen to explore, there’s something for everyone. 

After the adventure, enjoy a free sausage sizzle provided by Awahou School, who’ll also be selling other goodies as part of their fundraising efforts. 

To participate, put together a team of up to four people and for just $5 you can have a family day out. Your team of four can be made up of friends, family or a mix of both. 

Help us plan for the future of emergency management in our region

 The Manawatū-Whanganui Emergency Management Group Plan is the primary public document that outlines how the group, partners and agencies reduce risk, and get ready for, and recover from major emergencies and disasters in the region. 

We’re currently reviewing our Group Plan to make sure it is up to date. Since our last Group Plan was developed in 2016, there have been several significant events across Aotearoa New Zealand. Those events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Cyclone Gabrielle, provided many lessons for the future management of emergencies. Our review intends to result in a Group Plan which reflects these lessons, as well as other changes to emergency management. 

We need your help with this review. The review will be open for public submissions during September and October. Your submissions will help to ensure the plan reflects the people who live, work and play in the region. You also have the option of speaking to your submission. 

State of the Environment report

Every five years we create a comprehensive report which outlines the current state and trends of the Horizons Region’s air, land and water. 

It also identifies the key influences shaping environmental outcomes in the region, and highlights the challenges and opportunities associating with ensuring the health and wellbeing of the environment. 

Te Oranga o te Taiao State of the Environment: Horizons Region 2025 is out now. This year’s report differs from previous ones, taking a more holistic approach to presenting environmental reporting. Nature’s contributions to people are woven throughout, aligning with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s 2019 comments about improving environmental reporting. 

One of the ways we did this was by featuring the winning and highly commended entries from Horizons’ 2024 Creative Arts Competition, which invited submissions highlighting how the region’s environment contributes to the wellbeing of our people. These examples of nature’s contributions to people emphasise why everyone across the region is a stakeholder in the environment’s health. 

Updating consent details

Selling or transferring property can be a stressful time, with lots of paperwork and detail to be aware of. It’s natural things may slip through the cracks. One thing we’ve noticed which can sometimes be overlooked is the transfer of resource consents.

Resource consents can be required for new owners to continue activities carried out on land. If these consents aren't transferred, compliance issues can arise. Additionally, the current consent holder remains liable for the ongoing monitoring and research charges associated with any resource consents.

Transferring consents at the time of sale allows these charges to be pro-rated, similar to how rates are handled, and helps to avoid possible compliance issues. You can also surrender the consent if it is no longer needed.

If you’re selling or transferring property, call us on 0508 800 800 to talk to our Consents team about any consents which may need transferring or surrendering. You can also go to the Section 36 section of our website to download relevant forms.

Council Meetings

September 2025

• Regional Council, 30 September, 1pm

October

• Regional Council (first of new triennium), 29 October, 9.30am

November

• Regional Council meeting, 11 November, 9.30am
• Regional Council meeting, 25 November, 9.30am
• Integrated Catchment Committee, 26 November, 9.30am
• Audit, Risk and Investment Committee, 26 November

December

• Regional Transport Committee, 2 December, 11am
• Manawatū River Users' Advisory Group meeting, 2 December, 5.30pm
• Regional Council meeting, 16 December, 1pm

Unless otherwise stated meetings are open to the public and will be held at Regional House, 11-15 Victoria Avenue, Palmerston North. Please note all details were correct at the time of publication. However, for the most up-to-date dates and times for council meetings please check our website at www.horizons.govt.nz.

On the day of full Regional Council and committee meetings, we livestream the meeting directly to our Facebook page. These recordings are then available later to watch on Vimeo.