Mel Cupit - Gore District Councillor

28/05/2026

Our favourite weekend is nearly here! Ruby and I enjoyed the talent in town this afternoon, the schools busking competition & music and dancing at the RSA 🤠🎸🎤

24/05/2026

See more details in comments … I think this has got to be good news for local democracy 🌸

Thrilled to announce my Member's Bill, The Local Government (Management of Local Authorities) Amendment Bill was drawn from the ballot today! The purpose of this Bill is to provide elected mayors and councillors with the mandate to more effectively govern and control the activities of their local authority.

Local authorities play a critical role in delivering essential services and ensuring the wellbeing of their communities. However, over the years, we’ve seen inefficiencies and accountability issues in some areas, which affect the public’s trust and the quality of services provided.

My Bill will improve how councils are run by making council chief executives more directly accountable to elected members. It will also allow councillors to get advice from outside experts instead of only relying on council staff.

By amending the Local Government Act 2002 to make the roles and responsibilites of the mayor, councillors and the chief executive clearer, we will better align the governance of and management of local authorities with those of the corporate and not-for-profit sectors.

There are only upsides to this Bill and now I will work wtih Parliamentary colleagues across the House to gather support for this Bill and ensure it is passed into law to benefit local authorities and the communities they serve.

22/05/2026

Sharing this from Invercargill Mayor, simply because it is good to be informed about what our neighbours are thinking regarding proposed local government reorganisation. What are your thoughts?
1️⃣ one united Southland council
2️⃣ two Southland councils; 1 rural + 1 urban
3️⃣ something else ??

I posted last week describing the Head Start process announced by Government whereby each Region of NZ has three months to propose a new structure for Councils, which must involve, amalgamation, and fewer Council’s overall. If we don’t decide ourselves Govt will decide for us.

Invercargill City Council has decided to support a One Southland model so that all four Southland Councils would merge into one. We believe that model offers the greatest opportunity to leverage economies of scale and keep downward pressure on rates.
ICC sees this as an obvious decision to make.

Southland has been geographically and politically distinct for 160 years and has cooperated as one community for sports, emergency management, economic growth, arts, and in any number of other ways. We all play in Maroon and Gold.

ICC doesnt agree with the idea of an urban/rural divide. The city is, and has always been for 160 years, the service hub and administrative centre of the rural community where the Region’s wealth is created.

Given an almost equal population split between urban and rural I’d expect equal member representation on a new Southland Unitary Council, and there is no reason why either should dominate the other. Strong Community Councils would ensure local voices are heard.

We are quite simply mutually dependent on each other as Southlanders.

There are other structural models being proposed, but Gore, SDC and ICC really need to try very hard to find a model that works for all of us before Govt impresses its own model onto us.

Anyway, ICC supports One Southland, and will be advocating that model to our neighbours.

22/05/2026

- did you know, from the end of the Second World War until 1976, Gore enjoyed prosperity driven by record prices for agricultural produce which saw the town's population rise to 9,000 in 1976. By the late 1960s, it was reputed to have the highest per-capita retail turnover of any New Zealand town! This cool photo is from 1960s looking down our Main Street, love the load of wool bales off to be sold on bottom left!

21/05/2026

Today’s Council
‘pre-engagement’ from 12noon outside New World
🌸 see you there 🌸

20/05/2026

Marcus Buddo, makes perfect sense to me 🌸

Councils are trying to be too many things to too many people. Most people I know think councils are distracted from core business and not focused on the things that people work hard to pay their rates for. The core business of council is infrastructure, regulation and a small set of services like libraries and parks. Most councillor time should be spent on those issues, working out how to do things better, more effectively or cheaper. But take it from someone who was a councillor, it is easy to be distracted from the core issues.

While on council for example, pro-Palestine activists heavily pressured me to get council to demand a ceasefire in Gaza a year after Cyclone Gabrielle. I declined to bring this to the council table, as it would have distracted from our massive local infrastructure problems. However, at least six councils around the country ended up demanding a ceasefire.

Even in standard business there are far too many meetings that focus on non core things. Things like Splash Planet entry prices or youth councillor voting rights. We're talking hours of circular discussion, while infrastructure projects worth millions of dollars sail through with barely a whisper.

That is why I am a huge advocate for defining the core business of councils and then sticking to it. You have to be ruthless which issues you focus on, and they should be the things ratepayers elect you to deal with. We are talking roads, water pipes, consenting and a small number of services. This is the core business of council. Not Art Galleries, offensive art installations or Matariki Videos.

Councils are not there to solve every problem for every person, and clearly a focused, limited government is an effective government. Councils have a role and need to stick to it. I would like to see a better definition of council core business when local government gets reorganised by Wellington. Removing the four well-beings was a start, but there is more work to do. In the meantime, I encourage local politicians to spend their meeting time where the money is. 85% of our rates are spent on infrastructure. That is where the focus should be, not on expensive distractions.

And for the record, council reorganisation counts as core business. It is always the right time to work out how to deliver services better and cheaper.

20/05/2026

🌸🌸 Another big day at Council yesterday - our monthly meeting; followed by three workshops. We are starting long term plan discussions which is exciting; and also had an informal chat about the governments Simplifying Local Government and Head-Start initiative for amalgamation. We are in a unique position because we already have the Local Government Commission carrying out an investigation for the Southland region, right now … we are sitting tight for more direction, as that is a legal process which can’t just stop 🌸🌸 So lots happening and an exciting time to be an elected member in Local Government!!

18/05/2026

Great to be out at lunchtime today for our pre-engagement talks with the community. The survey is now available online, so please have a look and leave your comments 🌸🌸🌸

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GoreDistrict?fbclid=IwdGRjcAR3lhdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEepvzf0hFHLxlJiO1dw9QbI-59H3huE_aKz6JwvJTanddd0u7ohlOptUzUk2E_aem_Jw4qXc7y4k_AnSX95OwJ_w

17/05/2026

Thank you for all the kind comments and messages; I have read them all and appreciate your support
WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK:
🌸tomorrow at lunchtime I’ll be in town (CBD area) with fellow councillors to begin our long term plan pre-engagement with the community 😁 please do come and say hi if you see us!
🌸There will also be an online survey, I’ll share the link as soon as it’s available.
🌸TUES we have our monthly Council Meeting at 10am, open to the public - then followed by two public excluded workshops

12/05/2026

At risk of getting in more trouble for posting this — but staying true to my word about honesty and transparency - here’s your front page news 🌸Thank you for your support - it’s not a nice time - and I will be glad when the process is over and we can focus properly on what we were elected to do 🌸 Please be respectful in the comments.

14/01/2026

Invercargill City Council on the right track; already working out where things can be trimmed so that next rates rise is not so hefty … this is exactly what should be and could be happening in Gore 🤷‍♀️

“I want them to do all of the work they can so that the number they bring to council is a number that they can say this is a number that is the best we can do."