Nominations open next week for the 2025 local elections and potential candidates are already staking a claim for some of the 21 roles available around the Ashburton District.

Aside from the mayoral race, nine councillors will be elected to represent the three Council wards, as well as five Methven Community Board members, six Braided Rivers Community Trust members and two Environment Canterbury representatives.

Nearly anyone can represent their community, as long as they are over the age of 18, a New Zealand citizen and enrolled on the Parliamentary electoral roll.

Ashburton District Council Chief Executive Hamish Riach said potential candidates could now download a handbook with useful information about the election process and campaign rules.

“The handbook, nomination forms and a lot of useful information can be found at voteashburton.nz. There’s also a recording of the candidate information session that was held in Ashburton and a copy of the powerpoint presentation from that event.

“And there is also another candidate information session at Methven tomorrow night, in the Mt Hutt Memorial Hall starting at 7pm.”

The pre-election report, which outlines the key issues facing Council and the district over the coming years is also on the voteashburton.nz website.

Candidates can be of any age and background, and anyone interested in standing is encouraged to find out a bit more about what’s involved.

The voteashburton.nz website has a ton of information for both voters and candidates, including how to make sure you can vote in the local elections, maps for the different wards and Frequently Asked Questions.

In Mid Canterbury, people will also be voting for two representatives at Environment Canterbury. Those interested in standing for the regional council can find out more at www.ecan.govt.nz

Nominations for all roles are open from 4 July until noon on 1 August. Candidates cannot nominate themselves and they must be nominated by two people, who are over 18 and enrolled to vote in the same ward or area the candidate is planning to stand.

Mr Riach says he encourages candidates to complete their nominations early, so they can be checked for any technical errors well before the deadline.

The local elections are conducted by postal vote, and people can expect to receive their voting packs in the mail ahead of the start of voting on 9 September. Voting closes at noon on Saturday 11 October, with progress results available later that day.

Local candidates will be listed at voteashburton.nz once their nominations are processed.