Council is hosting a candidate information session on Wednesday 18 June and anyone thinking about standing for Council or the Methven Community Board in the Local Elections later this year can come along.

The session will be at Te Whare Whakatere, Council's offices, at Baring Square East, at 5.30pm, and potential candidates can learn all about the election process and ask questions.

Chief Executive Hamish Riach said the information session would give potential candidates a good idea of how the election process worked and what was required to be a candidate.

“We’ll also have our Electoral Officer there to talk about how the election will be run.”

There are about 28,400 eligible voters in the Ashburton District and later this year they will be asked to elect a Mayor and nine councillors, as well as a Methven Community Board and other community representatives.

Mr Riach said key documents would also be available at the information session, including a pre-election report, nomination forms and candidate handbooks.

“The pre-election report is generated ahead of every local election and is designed to give potential candidates an overview of the district and the challenges ahead.

“Councils are responsible for a broad range of services, from making sure water flows from the taps, to managing building consents and providing libraries and parks. Councillors are elected to have a governance role in these important community services, as well as planning for the future.

"Anyone is welcome at the information evening, and even if you're not sure about standing quite yet we'd encourage you to come along and find out a bit more about the process."

Another candidate information session is being planned for Methven, on Tuesday 24 June, at the Mt Hutt Memorial Hall at 7pm.

Nominations open on 4 July. Voting documents will be delivered in September, with voting closing at midday on 11 October.