​Inaugural Council meeting 29th October 2025 – Summary News:

Below is a brief summary of the ceremony and a key decision made from the Inaugural Council meeting held on the 29th of October 2025. You can read the full reports online in our agenda:

https://www.kaikoura.govt.nz/council/meetings-calendar-agendas-minutes

Swearing in of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillors:

At the Inaugural meeting of 29th October 2025, Mayor-elect Craig Mackle was sworn in for his third term and Vicki Gulleford, for a third term as Councillor, was also sworn in as our new Deputy Mayor.

We welcomed three new Councillors Corrina Smith, Joshua McInnes and Mark Redwood, along with the old guard of Kevin Heays, Tony Blunt, John Diver and of course Vicki Gulleford.

The voter return this triennium was 60.85%, being 1,881 votes, including special votes, which is one of the highest percentage voter turnouts in the country again. The community also had a fantastic number of candidates to choose from to represent them.

We acknowledged the years of service and contribution from our departed Councillors being Councillor and Deputy Mayor Julie Howden who has served Kaikoura for 12 years, Lisa Bond serving 9 years and Robby Roche serving 9 years.

We thank them for all they have done in their time and know they will continue to be of a supportive presence in our community.

We look very forward to this new dynamic steering us forward as we embrace the future of our town and community together.

Adoption of and approval of the Annual Report:

The audited Annual Report for the year ending 30th June 2025 was presented to the Council for adoption. There is a statutory requirement to have the annual report signed off by the 31st October each year irrespective of triennium elections. This year marks a major achievement with the first fully unqualified audit opinion on an annual report since at least 2016. This has taken significant effort by all the Council team to work towards this over the last few years.

Outcome:

Council unanimously adopted and approved the 2025 Annual Report.