I stand for honesty and integrity. Full transparency and a good moral compass are paramount for winning back community trust. With a set of reforms I will implement culture change towards a service-oriented, positive Council.
Putting long-term prosperity over quick profit, planning ahead and spending within our means are essential for fiscal responsibility and for getting Tasman District Council’s finances back in order.
My test is simple: highest impact per dollar. I’ll focus Council time and funding where one action solves several problems – housing, affordability, climate risks and financial sustainability.
I’m running for Mayor of Tasman – not as a career politician, but as someone who believes we urgently need honesty, strategic thinking, and some basic business sense leading this Council. In the situation we’re in, that might matter more than polished spin or bureaucratic credentials.
I’ll protect what matters most — planning for floods and climate realities, controlling Council spending, and stopping urban sprawl.
With a Master’s degree, a career in urban design, and experience running my own business, I bring the skills and vision to help build stronger, safer communities while revitalising our towns and villages.
Rates, housing, debt, traffic, emissions, the cost of living – these all link back to how we build our towns and villages and how we manage our infrastructure. Tasman needs significant investment, but throwing money at problems without a plan won’t fix them.
As a professional with a background in urban design, I bring the experience to drive a smarter strategy: one that supports affordable homes, protects our rural land, reduces traffic chaos, and restores balance to Council finances.
For years I’ve worked to influence better outcomes – from organising experts and petitions to speaking at Council and writing to Ministers. Now I’m stepping up to lead.
Piecemeal sprawl has hollowed out our villages and buried good land under slabs of concrete. We need coordinated planning, targeted infrastructure investment and systemic change to our river and flood management to build resilience and secure a more liveable, affordable future.
Let’s tackle root causes, not just symptoms. I’m ready to lead that change – and it starts with your vote!
We have too much infrastructure and not enough ratepayers” – that is the central issue why Tasman’s rates keep going up. I will focus my efforts on improving this ratio, to utilise our existing infrastructure more efficiently, and provide better oversight for Council spending to bring costs down for every one of us. Here’s my plan:
5. Streamlined Decision-Making – Smaller, focussed groups with delegated authority for routine or low-impact decisions, freeing up council time to concentrate on the big stuff.
6. Follow Sound Fiscal Principles – OPEX funded by rates, CAPEX by debt, limit asset sales, reverse debt trajectory.
To utilise our existing infrastructure more efficiently, we need to drive the intensification of our existing urban areas - but to be successful, this has to be well-designed and attractive. Here is my plan:
1. Adaptation Planning First – To be smart with infrastructure, we need to be clear about risk.
2. Run an Urban Design Competition – A bold, visual strategy will help drive public input and shared direction.
3. Neighbourhood Plans, Less Red Tape – Allowing well-designed townhouses and apartments in the right places without endless bureaucracy.
4. Affordable Housing – Champion inclusionary zoning, support tiny homes, and explore models like Community Land Trusts
5. Stand Up for Tasman in RMA Reform and Transport Funding – I’ll demand our fair share and work with other councils to push for workable rules and fight for Tasman-specific exemptions where necessary.
6. Ensure Developers Pay Their Share – To make sure developers, not existing ratepayers, cover the full infrastructure costs their projects create.
7. Fix Our Rating System – To encourage development in the right places, discourage land-banking, support productive land use and better align rates with actual infrastructure costs.
8. Create a Nelson-Tasman Design Office and Urban Development Agency – To stop duplicating efforts and drive coherent land use and transport planning.
9. Launch an Urban Greening & Water-Sensitive Design Taskforce – Creating cooler, greener and more resilient neighbourhoods.
Find out more details HERE!
Read my articles:
I am proposing a series of reforms to make the Council more transparent, more democratic and more accountable to the people of Tasman:
1. Genuinely engage with the public on major decisions.
2. Community Impact Statements for all major council decision papers.
3. End exclusion of the public from Council meetings.
4. Replace the Code of Conduct with a fairer template code.
5. Councillors to get all financial information relevant to their decisions.
6. Reassess delegated authorities.
7. Give Councillors ability to test Council’s legal advice.
8. Independent evaluation of the process that lead to the building of the Waimea Community Dam.
Find out more details HERE!
“Your job isn’t to lure strangers - it’s to delight the people who already live there!”
Jeff Siegler, author of "Your City is Sick"
I am a local business owner, small-scale farmer and father. My wife and I, and our three children, live in Hope. As a professional architect and urban designer and having worked for some of the world’s leading design and engineering companies in Hamburg (in my native Germany), Christchurch, Auckland, London and Abu Dhabi, I know how to approach leadership with integrity and how to interpret data to arrive at a sound plan.
My kiwi wife, Olivia, and I moved to Tasman in 2013 and have established a successful agri-tourism business in Hope. We grow pears, run some sheep and beef cattle, and welcome visitors from around the world to our small lodge. In my ‘spare time’ I have been working on regenerating a native wetland on our property and am experimenting with growing bananas, pineapples and avocados. So far, so good!
We have three school-aged children and enjoy the outdoors, tramping and good local food. In recent years, I have contributed to the community by advocating for building more resilient, sustainable, affordable and more community-focused towns and
villages that reduce our traffic issues and protect our beautiful countryside from urban sprawl.Most recently I supported my local Hope neighbourhood in its desire to stave off the Council’s impending rezoning of highly productive land for urban development. I believe that Tasman has the potential to become New Zealand’s most liveable district, where we care for our environment and enjoy the beauty of our region for generations to come. For this to become reality, we need better and more efficient solutions for our infrastructure, housing and for the way we plan for our future.
If you share this vision, I am determined and have the energy and ambition to drive this change for us all. That’s why I’m standing for Mayor of Tasman.
Read my extended back story in the May edition of the Nelson Magazine. In the ‘My favourite artwork’ section, Matt Lawrey tells the story how I fall in love with New Zealand and our region in particular.
