Newly elected Waitaki Mayor Melanie Tavendale is settling into her new position, literally and figuratively.

Mel moved into the mayoral office on Monday, after a convincing win in the local body elections, where preliminary results have her more than 1500 votes ahead of her nearest opponent, David Wilson.

“I was quite blown away. I think there'd been so much narrative around the elections, that I did expect a much closer margin at the end of the day. So the support has been just phenomenal and quite humbling,” she says.

Mel believes she won because people wanted someone who knew what the job entailed.

She had became a Waitaki District Councillor in 2013, and was deputy to her predecessor Gary Kircher from 2016 to 2022, before taking a term off. 

“I think people . . . wanted a bit of honesty in the communication around things, so we're in a really tough place, I think, financially, and as a community, and they wanted to know that there was some realistic expectation sitting in behind that.” 

Mel accepts her biggest and most immediate challenge will be helping to come up with a new plan for the Waitaki’s water services. 

The council’s standalone plan was rejected by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) earlier this month due to its failure to meet regulatory requirements, and a full review of the district’s water assets has been ordered.

Mel has been keeping tabs on the situation and says there are “many fishhooks” with it.

“For me, the narrative I've had has stayed the same, and that's been that we need to be at the table. We need to look after the interests of our community, but make sure we don't, in the process, end up with commissioners or someone else making decisions for us.

“So, you do need to find a midpoint in there somewhere, and that will be tough.”

Before committing to having another look at a joint model with other southern councils, which Waitaki councillors voted overwhelmingly to opt out of, there needs to be a dissection of the DIA’s response, to fully understand what it means for the district, and what the options are, she says.

“The new council need an opportunity to get around the issue.

After one day on the job, she is not quite sure what that looks like, but it will be a team effort.

“I just think we need to be open to looking at whatever the most affordable option is.”

It is reassuring for her that the majority of elected councillors - Rebecca Ryan, Courtney Linwood, Jeremy Holding, Jim Hopkins, Hana Fanene-Taiti (Ōamaru Ward), John McCone (Corriedale) and Brent Cowles (Ahuriri) - remain from the last term and already have good knowledge of the issues.

“I think that having ones that have been part of that conversation the whole way through is going to bring so much to the table. But then there are a few fresh eyes with people who have quite a bit of background in that space as well.” 

The addition of Dan Lewis (Ōamaru Ward), Frans Schlack (Waihemo) and Sven Thelning (Corriedale), means there is a good mix of new and experienced, she says.

Water issues aside, Mel is excited about bringing the team together and “working out how you get the best out of people”.

“I would like to make this an enjoyable job for everyone around the council table. We've got such an awesome community, let's celebrate things and let's work together on a way forward rather than with the negativity that's too often prevalent.”

The new councillors elected fill the seats left vacant by Tim Blackler, Jim Thompson and Guy Percival, meaning althogh some councillors stood down, none of the last term’s council was voted out.

Mel says it’s indicative that she, along with a “quiet majority”, believes those who walk through the council doors are trying to make the right decisions for their district.

Hub and Sprocket Cycles, the bike shop Mel runs with husband Steve, will now be Steve’s full-time responsibility, something he is looking forward to, she says.

“He's been doing a lot of that in his evenings and things. So it gives us back a little bit of our life.”

A self-described “council nerd at night”, Mel says it feels really good to be back, and this time leading the way and “being able to set the tone”.

The Tavendale children, Josie and Declan, were briefly excited about their mother being made mayor, but have quickly moved on with life, she says.

Mel’s diary is already packed, starting with “mayor school” next week at Local Government New Zealand, in Wellington, where all the new mayors meet and receive a kind of induction into the requirements of the job.

On her return, she will be officially inaugurated into her role on October 22.