Steve Laurence
Last updated: 25 Aug, 2025 10:33pm
Candidate Statement
I run Almo’s Books and Café in the High Street. I’ve valued the opportunity to serve on Council this term and like to think I have contributed to good decision making. I am standing again as it has taken a large part of the last three years for me to properly understand how Local Government works. If I don’t seek another term, I won’t be making the most of lessons learned.
This term has been dominated by waters reforms. We concentrated on getting our assets into the best possible condition and arriving at the best long term deal we could strike for Carterton. This will be a huge change for governance in Wairarapa and is likely to be a model for further consolidation. Our challenge is to protect our wonderful community, foster its continuing growth and make it as affordable as possible.
I believe I can help with this.
Video transcript
I’m Steve Laurence. I live up on Mt Holdsworth Road and I have run Almo’s Books in the High Street since 2010.
This has been my first term on Council and I like to think I have contributed to a successful 3 years. We have:
- Invested in drinking water and waste water infrastructure
- Put substantial extra funding into roads
- Taken positive steps towards large scale water storage .
- Put Carterton into the best possible situation for Local Water Done Well
- Committed to an upgrade of Carrington Park
All while seeing Carterton drop down the league table for residential rates and maintaining low levels of debt.
I have learned a lot about how local government works and if I get a second term I will be able to build on lessons learned.
My top priority for Council is agreement on a vision for what we want Carterton to become and a strategy for working towards it.
We need a cohesive team with common goals.
Carterton people are concerned about the look of the High Street. This has been a focus for me for a long time. There has been little investment given the economic climate over recent years. We contribute a lot of money to Wairarapa wide Economic Development programmes . Ensuring Carterton gets better value for that spend is a key to growth and investment.
The biggest challenge Carterton faces is safeguarding the things that make this such a wonderful community and keeping it affordable.
It is likely that affordability will require a restructure of local government in Wairarapa. The next Council will need to ensure Carterton’s identity and interests are protected in the process. We can’t ignore the increasing impact of climate change .For Wairarapa this is likely to mean drier summers and more intense rainfall events. Carterton can’t have much impact on the climate but we will need to get ready for change.
