Candidate: Robert Snijders
Council: Rangitikei District Council

Nearly 30% of children are living in poverty (under an income based measure), and many of those children have parents who are working. Would you support your council becoming or continuing to work towards becoming a Living Wage employer? / This is an issue that should be dealt with at a national level with support from local governance. At the moment our council’s staff are perceived to be overpaid by the ratepayers and voters. Until issues of accountability are resolved, which I will deal with as mayor, it would be a tough sell. On a plus point the housing in the Rangitikei is very affordable with the prospect of jobs in the district and near by make us an attractive place to live. If incomes could be lifted too, then this district could be an attractive place to raise families as well as do business.
The UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Initiative provides a framework to guide communities to create child friendly cities.
Would you support becoming accredited as a Child Friendly City? Or if your town or city is already accredited, would you continue to support efforts to maintain accreditation? / We would look to be child and youth friendly. Basically we need to ensure that children take a stake in how their district looks and feels. As they grow up they will have more of a bond with their surroundings rather than grow up wanting to leave permanently. The Rangitikei is a small district by populations so we would have to work with our neighbours in order to deliver this intiative.
What are one or two key initiatives that you would progress to support being a child friendly city or town? / We would encourage children, youth and young adults to participate in all aspects of the towns’ growth including the decision making processes.
Access to affordable and healthy housing is a significant issue in Aotearoa New Zealand. What measures would you take to support affordable and healthy housing in your town or city? / The Rangitikei District Council has a portfolio of social housing in need of refurbishment. The council also has a stock of land that is suitable for housing. We would be looking to transfer the stock to a Housing Trust/Association with members of the community as trustees whereby the housing is maintained and rented out at appropriate rates that make the housing stock sustainable and suitable to live in. We would also look leverage off this to allow construction of new houses that can be rented out, part purchased or other options such as a right to buy at a later date if the tenant has maintained the property within an agreed framework.
How would you support local community-led planning and policy development that includes children’s voices in order to build healthy, connected communities and effective support for children and their parents? / Children, youth and young adults would be included in the decision making process. They would be actively encouraged through their educational establishments to attend council meetings which have agendas including their age group.
Would you support a local tobacco control action plan that includes extending smokefree places to everywhere children are? / This is a very difficult policy to introduce as children can be anywhere. It is also something that central government has to administer with advice from local council level. I would hope that we have sufficient community spirit that residents are considerate of each other.
What would you do to help make your town or city a healthy and sustainable environment to live in? / Ditch the car if you are not going far; actively encourage walking and cycling through sensible and deliverable local initiatives. Also look at long term sustainability of services, i.e. drinking water and if we should be harvesting rainwater for domestic use in urban areas.