“It’s crucial that youth become engaged in decisions that affect them now and in the future.”

The youngest candidate for the local board, Dorte Wray grew up on Waiheke “knee deep” in family connections as the daughter of midwife Linda Hodson and granddaughter of former Waiheke county and gulf councillor Gordon Hodson. She is known to many islanders for her work with Waiheke’s waste company Clean Stream and the Waste Resource Trust, as well as for organising last year’s outstanding Junk to Funk recycled fashion event.

Her belief in the need for youth representation is the reason she is standing. Given that more than 50 percent of Auckland’s population is under 30, Dorte believes it’s crucial that youth become engaged with the decisions that will affect them now and in the future. She sees public transport as needing better subsidies, especially for those residents who can least afford it, such as students.”

Dorte is very pleased that Waiheke was given its own board in the restructuring. She believes that retaining and increasing the power the community has over decisions that affect it in the new Auckland Council is of overriding importance for the new local board.

“It will be crucial to form strong relationships that will enable the island’s unique needs and aspirations to be met. We need to build a board that can present a united voice to the Super City and constructively negotiate our transport and development needs.”

She sees the board’s role as developing a plan for services and infrastructure, like transport, with cost, scale and sustainability in mind. “Future planning needs to be based on a realistic assessment on what is best for our people and our environment. Our infrastructure needs to be affordable, of appropriate scale and sustainable both from the perspective of the environment and the future ratepayers who will have to maintain it.”

Dorte feels she has energy, commitment, and knowledge of the Waiheke community to contribute to any future board. “I was born and raised here and am well connected to many of the different sectors of the island community and especially young people who have not been directly represented on our council.”

Her work experience to date includes being a programme director and researcher, working in refugee resettlement, and being a resource co-ordinator all within the community sector. She has worked as a caregiver with disabled people of all ages and feels they have an important contribution to make. As a member of the Waste Resource Trust, she was actively involved in the campaign for a local board with more power, and appeared in front of the Select Committee on this matter.

Her vision for the island in five years’ time would involve getting good value out of our council expenditure.I come from a family that taught me that money doesn’t grow on trees.” She’d like to see more local employment, young people with meaningful, sustainable work and a long-term youth strategy that is based on active involvement with the island’s youth and key stakeholders.” “

And in ten years, she would like to see a community that has retained its “active and diverse population, that we have thriving locally-owned initiatives and businesses that are producing the goods and services we need to live our lives, with less reliance on the mainland. That we are proud of our local board and council and are satisfied to have one of the most efficient local authorities in the country.”