WCC decides to enforce its own rules

By Dan Moskovitz

Wellington City Council and scandal are two peas in a pod. WCC councillors and scandal practically share the same bed. Sometimes, mere candidates can be the centre of controversy, as happened during the 2022 local elections. 

Back then, both front-runner Paul Eagle and eventual winner Tory Whanau would place election hoardings up before they were allowed to, creating an uneven playing field. 

However, the extent of WCC’s ability to respond was to say “Please don’t,” as they could not enforce their own election rules. In other words, candidates could advertise before they were allowed with impunity.

It’s unlikely having hoardings up early actually swung the election to Whanau, but being able to ignore election rules is never a good look. 

So for 2025, WCC has paradoxically both loosened and tightened election rules. 

Hoardings on private property - a sign on someone’s fence - have no time limits on when their signs can be put up. So all of Salient’s property-owning Ray Chung fans can start advertising for him as soon as possible. 

Public property hoardings - in parks by the road and so forth - now have strict rules governing their usage. They can be erected from the 29th of August and must be removed the day before the election. 

Crucially, the council can now enforce these rules too. WCC spokesperson Richard MacLean told Salient “If candidates don’t play ball, we can confiscate and remove the signs that are causing problems.”

So this year, the playing field should hopefully be more even.