Mayor Michael Laws has announced his intention to retire from the Wanganui mayoralty in October 2010.

Describing the role of Wanganui Mayor as "a fantastic experience and the rarest of privileges", Mayor Michael said "There can be no question that Wanganui is a better place – and the council a more efficient and effective organisation – as a result of the past six years of policy-making, politicking and persuasion."

When Mayor Michael became Mayor "my aims were very simple", he said.

"To remake council; to empower the average Wanganui citizen in the council's decision-making process; to create new amenities that would materially improve the quality of life of our citizens; to restore Wanganui's sense of purpose and self confidence.

"After three years, I reasoned that we had almost achieved all those goals. I was persuaded, against my initial judgment, to stand for a second term. I may have been the leader and chairman of council but, ultimately, I needed supportive colleagues to make things happen.

"And, boy, have we made things happen!"

• The lowest annual rate rises in New Zealand over the past six years
• The development of the riverfront and walkway
• The building of the Splash Centre extension
• The revamping of Wanganui's airport
• The introduction of annual referenda
• The saving of Wanganui's tertiary Glass School
• The passage of the groundbreaking anti-gang legislation
• The creation of a Youth Council
• The creation of a community wide family friendly strategy
• The upgrading of Virginia Lake and our premier parks
• The empowering of the Rural Community Board
• Hosting the world premiere of 'River Quee'
• Creating the 'Mayoral Mile' and other unique events
• Giving councillors increased powers and 'mini-mayor' status
• Successfully resisting the NZ Geographic Board's decision to rename Wanganui
• The introduction of 'soft' water to Wanganui homes
• The creation of anti-graffiti and anti-litter teams
• The creation of an international sculpture competition
• The soon-to-be-completed Visitor Centre
• The soon-to-be-completed Southern Entranceway
• The establishment of a nationwide, televised Wanganui promotional campaign

"It is a remarkable number of achievements and we have remade Wanganui over the past six years."

Mayor Michael has chosen not to stand for re-election as Mayor, first and foremost due to the importance he places on spending time with his young family.

"I have three wonderful young children – Lucy (5), Zoe (3) and Theo (1) – and to be honest, they are my life. I love and adore them. My older children James and Rachel are now an important part of our daily lives, and I am a grandfather to Jack and Harry.

"Almost losing Lucy to leukemia two years ago had a profound effect upon how I view fatherhood. It reminded me that there is no role anywhere near as important. And that everything else is inconsequential by comparison."

Mayor Michael feels a "personal sense of 'mission accomplished' after nearly six years in the role. Wanganui is heading in the right direction. We are feeling good about ourselves and we realise that we don't need to accept fate. That we can manage our own destiny".

"We live in a great city. Let us never forget that. Nor the need to keep it that way."

Mayor Michael is pictured above with son Theo at the opening of the Kowhai Park Tot Town Railway tunnel extension on June 6.

Up to 100 households in Gonville and Fordell will be able to have fast and reliable internet access as part of a free six-month wireless broadband trial, which begins on Monday, June 14.

There are 60 free wireless receivers available and 40 wireless receivers available at a cost of $170. Only one receiver is required per household. Funding for the receivers was provided by the Powerco Wanganui Trust.

"This is a great opportunity for members of two of our digitally underserved communities," says Deputy Mayor Dot McKinnon.

"For many people, accessing the internet has become part of every day life and they take it for granted. It's easy to forget that not everyone has internet access, either because of their location or other barriers such as cost.

"This six-month trial will give council the opportunity to assess the success of a wireless scheme in both a rural and urban setting and help inform future projects."

The Gonville wireless trial area includes York Street, Pururi Street, Abbot Street to the Bignell Street junction, part of Harper Street starting from the Abbot Street junction, Central Avenue, Swiss Avenue, part of Rimu Street including Harris Place and parts of Gonville Avenue to the Cambridge Street junction. (A map showing the exact area of the trial will be on display at the Gonville Café Library, where people are able to sign up for the Gonville scheme; or view the map here (PDF, 362KB) - the circle on the map shows the approximate area of the trial).

Fordell residents can sign up for the trial at the Council Municipal Building, 101 Guyton Street, Wanganui, at the Customer Services Counter.

To be eligible for the wireless broadband trial people need to:

• Live within the identified trial areas
• Have a computer which is less than seven years old
• Not currently have a broadband connection to the internet (people with a dial-up connection are eligible)

Sign up from Monday, June 14

Fordell residents sign up at the Customer Services Counter, Municipal Building, 101 Guyton Street, Wanganui, Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm

Gonville residents sign up at the Gonville Café Library, Abbot Street, Gonville, Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 5.00pm

Please bring along a form of photo identification and proof of address. This is required to ensure participants live within the trial areas.

Participants must be 18 years and over to sign up for the trial.

Ratepayers who may qualify for a rate rebate must make an application by 30 June 2010 for the 2009/10 rating year. (The rating year runs from 1 July – 30 June).

If your income is low to moderate then you may be eligible for a rates rebate. To determine if you are eligible we require your gross income earnings (before tax) for the tax period ending 31 March 2009. The rate rebate will be calculated on your income earnings and your 2009/10 Wanganui District Council rates and Horizons Regional Council rates.

Please contact the rates department for further information, phone (06) 349 0519.

Along with a new name, a new fee structure is being introduced for the Wanganui War Memorial Conference and Convention Centre.

Work has been under way to promote the name change and increase the profile of the centre, as well as looking at ways of increasing income from this major community facility.

The new fee structure focuses on a clear delineation between community users and commercial users and offers a more complete 'package'. The costs of some 'add on' items have been reduced, while other previously separated items have been included in the hire fee, creating a more simple structure and making it easier for users to calculate total charges.

Whilst the new pricing structure will result in an increased fee, it enables the council to recover charges that had previously not been accounted for, including staff time and electricity.

The new fee structure, being implemented from 1 July 2010, will not affect bookings made prior to this date and secured with a deposit. These bookings will be charged at the previous rates.

The new fee structure will be published on the council's website soon. For further information about bookings for the Wanganui War Memorial Conference and Convention Centre contact Sue Carrick on (06) 349 0001.

The Ake Ake crew, part of one of the council's Community Max schemes, has been busy at work on the Yes 2 Youth Centre Hall, at 16 Rangiora Street, to ensure youth in the Castlecliff area have a safe and fun place to hang out.

Yes 2 Youth offers a range of programmes and support for young people.

With Pamela Roy's assistance, murals are beginning to decorate the walls of the hall; however, a builder/handyman is required to help fix up panels and walls and make a small internal office. Resources will be supplied.

It's not a big job but it will have huge benefits for local youth by making the centre a great place to be.

For further information please contact Pamela on 021 929 151 or call Yes 2 Youth phone (06) 344 3399.

The Sarjeant Gallery will be closed from Monday, May 24, until Saturday, June 19, to enable building maintenance work to take place.

This will involve the gallery floor being sanded and re-varnished.

In order for this to take place the front of house area, offices and library will be cleared and artworks removed from the gallery. Once the work is complete then everything will need to be reinstalled in time for the annual Whanganui Arts Review and the winter season of exhibitions and events.

Details about the following vacancies are available on this page:

Development Engineer
Applications close 18 June 2010

Executive Assistant to Property Manager (14 months fixed term parental leave cover)
Applications close 21 June 2010

The Wanganui District Council is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.

We welcome members of the public to attend our meetings

Youth – Monday, June 14 (Committee Room 2, 4.00pm)

Council – Tuesday, June 22 (Council Chamber, 3.00pm)
- The Council will consider the reports from Committee meetings held in May and June, reports direct to Council and adoption of the Council's Annual Plan 2010/11.

Wanganui Rural Community Board – Thursday, June 24 (Committee Room 2, 4.00pm)

Community Development – Tuesday, June 29 (Council Chamber, 3.00pm)

Agendas are available at the Customer Services Counter, Municipal Office Building, 101 Guyton Street, Wanganui and the Wanganui District Library two working days prior to the meeting.