Deon Swiggs

Deon Swiggs Chair of the Canterbury Regional Council, Director, Doctor of Business graduate, Strategy & Planning. Authorised by Deon swiggs.nz Like to get things done.

Councillor for the Canterbury Regional Council. Former Christchurch City Councillor, Director of Rebuild Christchurch and many other organisations. Hold a Doctorate Degree in Business.

From Monday 10 August, Metro takes over the full Rolleston–City Direct service (Routes 84 & 85).Some context, because I'...
04/08/2026

From Monday 10 August, Metro takes over the full Rolleston–City Direct service (Routes 84 & 85).

Some context, because I've seen a few questions about it. The trial of this route started in September 2025 as a public-private partnership with Bentley Coachlines, a private operator running most of the trips commercially, on its own fares, with no ratepayer subsidy. Diesel prices went the way they did, and Bentley told us in May they couldn't keep it viable. Fair enough. They gave us time for an orderly handover rather than pulling the pin overnight, and I'm grateful for that.

The service is too well used to let it lapse. Patronage was up around 38.5% in March alone, more than 3,300 extra trips.

The funding was already there. $405,000 was set aside through a targeted rate in the 2025/26 Annual Plan to expand these services, that's what covers the transition. Council then agreed $810,000 in the 2026/27 Annual Plan (deliberations 26 May, adopted 24 June) to continue delivering transport options in Rolleston for another 12 months, this immediate need is taking this.

What changes for passengers from 10 August:

- Metro fares $3 or less with Metrocard or contactless via Motu Move, on every trip
- Later evening trips, based on customer feedback, including for shift workers
- Free transfers within two hours, bike racks, pets on board
- Boarding inside the Bus Interchange, plus audio announcements
- Hail and ride stays
- Two trips come out of the timetable, matched to actual demand

The trial runs to June 2027. What happens after that is a Long-Term Plan decision, and Selwyn residents will get their say through that process.

Thanks to the public transport team for keeping this moving, and to the Bentley crew for getting it off the ground in the first place.

Some pics of the hills this afternoon between the showers.
04/08/2026

Some pics of the hills this afternoon between the showers.

03/08/2026

Some snow flurries on the walk to work this morning. Brr ❄️

Today is World Ranger day, a chance to recognise the people who look after our parks, forests and natural spaces.Our Par...
31/07/2026

Today is World Ranger day, a chance to recognise the people who look after our parks, forests and natural spaces.

Our Parks & Forests team works year-round to protect and enhance the places our community values: conserving natural environments, supporting recreation, and making sure these places are still here for future generations.

Thanks too to the many volunteers who turn out for park clean-ups, planting days and conservation projects. That mahi keeps our natural spaces healthy, welcoming and thriving.

To all our rangers, staff and volunteers, thank you for your commitment and service.

Spoke on the "Lessons from the Regional Sector" panel at the Te Maruata hui today. Facilitated by my Deputy Chair Iaean ...
29/07/2026

Spoke on the "Lessons from the Regional Sector" panel at the Te Maruata hui today. Facilitated by my Deputy Chair Iaean Cranwell and joined alongside Boneta Bigham, Deputy Chair Taranaki Regional, Pete Moiehu and Wiremu Te Aweawe.

For those who haven't come across it, Te Maruata is the Local Government national committee of Māori elected members, councillors, mayors and chairs from across the country. It's been going since the late 1990s, and its job is to grow Māori representation in local government, support members in the role, and bring a Māori perspective into national view.

From my perspective, the takeaway I left with the panel is how reform is at risk of pulling local government apart. Regional and territorial. City and rural. Everyone defending their own patch, because that's what the settings reward.

I get why. But in a world this connected, fracturing is the worst thing we could do. The transition costs are shared. The adaptation questions are shared. The communities are the same communities, whichever council sends the rates Bill. Whatever structures we end up with, we should turn up to them as one sector that delivers.

Good kōrero and good people. Thanks to our hosts

Tonight I had the privilege of meeting Dr Donna Morrison, the producer of SGT. HAANE, and grand-niece of Lance Sergeant ...
28/07/2026

Tonight I had the privilege of meeting Dr Donna Morrison, the producer of SGT. HAANE, and grand-niece of Lance Sergeant Haane Te Rauawa Manahi DCM (Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa), 28th Māori Battalion.

At Takrouna, Tunisia, in April 1943, Manahi led a small group up a near-vertical rock face to take a fortified summit, going back up under fire again and again. In 2007 the Crown offered a partial remedy, a ceremonial sword, an altar cloth and a letter from the Queen. Te Arawa accepted it with grace, but never as the end of the matter.

The film grew out of Donna's doctorate on her uncle's life and legacy. As it turns out, we were both grinding through our doctorates over the same stretch of years, different disciplines, same long nights, same supervision battles, same moment where you seriously question why you started. Hers carried the added weight of being about her own whānau, with an obligation to get it right for the people who lived it.

Comparing notes with someone who was in the trenches at the same time was the best part of the evening. You learn more in that half hour than from any amount of reading.

Two things stayed with me. Recognition systems reflect the biases of whoever runs them, Manahi's VC didn't fail on the evidence. And knowledge held by whānau and hapū is evidence, not colour. Both worth remembering in the work we do.

Ninety-two years on, the people of Takrouna still remember him. We should too.

Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou.

We do have a great little part of the world to live in :)
27/07/2026

We do have a great little part of the world to live in :)

Sad news out of Waitaki today, Councillor Jim Hopkins has died.Jim was a Waitaki District Councillor for nearly two deca...
27/07/2026

Sad news out of Waitaki today, Councillor Jim Hopkins has died.

Jim was a Waitaki District Councillor for nearly two decades, including three years as Deputy Mayor, and before that served four terms on the Banks Peninsula Council. Many Cantabrians will also remember him from Radio Avon, his Herald column, and of course Blokes and Sheds.

He was known for scrutinising the detail, arguing his corner hard, and doing it all with a very sharp sense of humour. That's a good combination in local government, and not a common one.

My condolences to his family, his colleagues at Waitaki District Council, and the Oamaru community. A condolence book is available at the Waitaki Council for anyone who'd like to sign it.

Rest in Peace Jim.

27/07/2026

The Waimangarara River Ford on Postman Road in Kaikoura. Normally dry but the power of the recent rain has wrecked this asset. An example of the infrastructure damage from the floods.

Kōwhai in flower, a good sign that winter's beginning to make its way out.Kōwhai is one of the easiest natives to get in...
27/07/2026

Kōwhai in flower, a good sign that winter's beginning to make its way out.

Kōwhai is one of the easiest natives to get into a Canterbury garden, and one of the most useful. It's a key late-winter and early-spring nectar source for korimako (bellbird), tūī and kererū at a time of year when there isn't much else on offer. Plant one and you're not just adding a tree, you're adding a link in a food chain.

Canterbury's lowland indigenous cover is among the most depleted in the country, and most of what's left is on private land. Backyard and street plantings won't fix that on their own, but they do connect the fragments, and they put native birds back in front of people who live in town.

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