24 September 2025
I’m Duncan Campbell, standing for Taupō Ward and my three priorities are: #1 RESTORE DEMOCRACY, #2 TAKE BACK CONTROL OF COUNCIL, # 3 CAP RATES TO INFLATION.
Now the best place to see what I am all about is my website duncandoestaupo.com where I post at least weekly my Council news and views.
I am a practicing civil engineer and first term Councillor, and very much concerned at how this Council operates and seems to have been operating for quite a number of years now. The staff bureaucrats are firmly in control and elected members do not get timely access to the information for the decisions which matter. By that I do not include every elected member, because I know some are quite happy to be strung along – but I am not one of those.
I am hoping for substantial change this election and much of my efforts the past year or so have been to try and educate the public as to what this Council gets up to and behind closed doors. Whether or not I have made enough of an impact we may see in a few weeks’ time. Now I know this is supposed to be a pitch to the business community, but my focus has always been on trimming the fat and harassing The Machine of Council when necessary. I don’t think it does anyone’s business any good if people can’t afford to feed their families because Councillors keep on signing off on annual plans with 8% rates increases because the staff tell them so. For retirees without a small fortune stashed away that simply isn’t sustainable for them to remain in their own homes. I believe there is enough slack in the system to be able to tie rates to inflation and it simply has to happen now and into the future. And it had to become a new normal and a voter expectation.
duncandoestaupo.com 