Your returning councillors

Paul is a second-term councillor and is on several Council committees.

He lives in Te Anau with his wife Kim and they have three grown children.

Paul is semi-retired and has a small locksmithing business that takes him all over Southland. He has a love for the Waiau River and surrounding area and enjoys jet boating. He is passionate about hickory golf – playing with heritage clubs and on historic courses.

On Council he has particular interests in regulatory matters and the coast. He is keen to see the Council’s work continue as it negotiates the structural changes ahead.

“I want to ensure a smooth transition for whatever the future is, and for our staff.”

This is Alastair’s second-term as a Councillor and he is on most of the Council’s committees.

He and his wife Alison have lived on their 22ha Riversdale property for 33 years and are building a house in Arrowtown to enjoy with family. The couple has four grown children and 11 grandchildren.

Alastair is an agricultural mediator and consultant.

On council his areas of particular interest are rivers, wilding pines and enabling constituents to achieve their goals. He wants to ensure Council’s responsibilities are in a good position for any new structure.

“They’ll have to have an election at the end, and we’ll have to stand to give the environmental flavour.”

Lyndal has been on the Council since 2016. She is the chair of the all-of-council Strategy & Policy Committee, which she also chaired during the past term.

Her wide-ranging interests on Council include air quality, youth engagement, water quality, spatial planning and climate.

Lyndal is deputy chair of the Southland Art Foundation and the Grace Street Project. She enjoys sports, dancing, music and amateur theatre, and hosts a show on Radio Southland with her husband. The couple live in Invercargill and have two sons.

Working with the community is close to her heart. “I want to make sure the communities within our city have influence over environmental outcomes.”

This is Jon’s second term on Council. He is the chair of the Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) committee.

A fourth generation dairy farmer, Jon and his wife Birgit have three children and currently live on their leased property at Menzies Ferry, and own their home property at Brydone.

He enjoys deep sea fishing, and is a Nuffield farming scholar (2025), researching developing emissions trading-type schemes at catchment scale. He is also co-chair of Whakamana te Waituna Charitable Trust and chair of National Lamb Day.

On Council he is interested in flood resilience and local government reform.

“I want a structure that’s set up well for the future of Southland and ratepayers, which still allows the community to thrive with the environment.”

Maurice is in his sixth term as a councillor and is on all six of the Council’s committees. He has interests in river management, biodiversity and climate.

He’s a keen fisherman and enjoys gardening and playing table tennis. Maurice and his wife Alison live in Invercargill and have two grown children.

On Council, Maurice is keen to see the Regional Forum’s recommendations progressed and some action on the Regional Climate Change Strategy. He’d like people to see rivers as ecosystems where many native fish and wildlife species live, “along with trout too of course”.

“It’s quite heartening,” he says. “We’re in quite a good space, but there’s still more work to do.”