King returns for third term as Tasman mayor

Saturday, 11 October 2025

Incumbent Tasman district mayor Tim King on farm land in the Howard Valley near the Buller River. King is to return for a third and final term as mayor.

Incumbent Tasman mayor Tim King has been re-elected for a third term and what he says will be his final triennium in the region’s top job.

Based on progress results on Saturday, King came out on top over four other candidates ‒ Maxwell Clark, Richard Johns, Timo Neubauer, and Richard Osmaston, for his third stint at leading the Tasman District Council.

In preliminary results, posted on Sunday afternoon, King received 10,0073 votes, comfortably ahead of his closest rival, Timo Neubauer, with 4027. Richard Johns was third with 3848 followed by Maxwell Clark on 1189.

After hearing the news on Saturday, while visiting his son’s Howard Valley home, King said he was happy to be re-elected and appreciated those who took the time to go out and vote.

Asked his plans for the term, King said he wasn’t one to come in with a pre-set idea of how it was all going to go.

“I've learned very much in the six years I've done this, even if I had a bit of a plan in 2019, that rapidly went out the window with Covid, and ever since then, I think it's just about being willing to be adaptable.”

King has served on the council for 27 years, including 18 years as deputy mayor.

His election campaign was a pragmatic one, telling voters he couldn’t foresee a day when rates rises would return to the days of 1% or 2% increases any time soon, particularly with investments needed in water, wastewater, stormwater, roading, and rubbish collection and disposal.

With five councillors opting not to restand, some with decades under their belts on the job, King pitched his experience and “solid understanding” of rules, regulations, and legislation.

His last term had been one of repeated challenges, from the Waimea Dam cost overruns, to council overspends and subsequent cutbacks, to the extreme rain events in June and July that caused widespread damage.

The region was dealt another blow last month when the closure of the Eves Valley sawmill was confirmed.

At the council table

King will be sharing the council table with a swathe of newcomers, but the race remained tight in several wards with the preliminary results on Sunday showing two candidates vying for the last Richmond ward vacancy separated by only 12 votes and in the Moutere-Waimea ward by only 14 votes.

Of Tasman’s eight incumbents, seven were looking likely to be re-elected in the preliminary count, meaning the other seven councillors would be new this term.

In the Moutere-Waimea Ward, with three vacancies, Dave Woods led the race with 3122 votes, while three candidates had fewer than 100 votes separating them ‒ Dean McNamara with 2725, incumbent Mike Kininmonth 2675 and Julian Eggers 2661.

It was a similar story in the contest for Richmond’s four seats, with incumbent Jo Ellis in front with 3487 votes, incumbent Kit Maling on 3411 votes, while unsuccessful mayoral contender Timo Neubauer sat in third with 3341 votes.

He was followed by incumbent Mark Greening, who had 3008 votes, just 12 ahead of ACT’s Daniel Shirley on 2996 with incumbent Glen Daikee on 2939.

Unsuccessful mayoral candidate Timo Neubauer said the council table was going to be quite different to what it had been in the past three years and he looked forward to taking part as a Richmond ward councillor.

Neubauer, said the mayoral race was a “bit of a fizzer” from his point of view.

However, he was pleased to be in third place in the progress results for Richmond’s four seats.

“From what I can see, I think it'll be quite different to what we’ve had over the last three years, and I look forward to being a vocal voice on that.”

In the Golden Bay ward, Mark Hume led the pack on the preliminary result with 1099 votes, while incumbent Celia Butler was second on 1015.

Turnout in local elections is looking low, with fewer than half of eligible voters likely to cast a ballot. Dale Ossowski of Election Services says online voting could re-engage younger New Zealanders who are used to digital life, not postal ballots.

In Lakes-Murchison, John Gully captured 629 votes for the ward’s sole seat, followed by Nicola Allan on 483.

In the three-seat Motueka ward, incumbent Brent Maru had 2964 votes, followed by incumbent Trindi Walker with 2551, while newcomer Kerryn Ferneyhough received 2223 votes.

Final results are expected later in the week.

King said it was becoming obvious around the country that turnout had dropped significantly, which was “disappointing”, and was something that Government and local government collectively needed to figure out.