New to the team

Allan Baird - Fiordland Constituency

Serving the community runs in Allan’s family. His grandfather, who was awarded a CBE for services to the community, was chairman of the Southland County Council for 12 years and provincial president of Federated Farmers.

Allan himself was president of Federated Farmers for three years. When the vacancy on council came up in the Fiordland constituency, he saw it as an opportunity to apply his mix of skills. “It’s our region, our problems.”

Allan is the fourth Baird to farm their property near Winton, which he converted from deer and sheep to dairy. He lives with his wife Helen, both of whom are keen golfers. They have two grown sons.

Before Allan took over the family farm, he spent 15 years away, getting a degree at Lincoln University and then working in the finance industry in New Zealand and Australia.

During his time on council he would like to encourage consistency of community expectations for rural and urban water quality. He would also like to improve the tone of engagement. “I feel we could do more to lift our image with the farmer base.”

Allan has tremendous pride for Southland. “As a region we have a lot to celebrate.”

Bonnie Mager - Invercargill–Rakiura Constituency

Bonnie sees her role on the council as an opportunity to put her degrees in geology and biology to good use. “Biodiversity is my passion.”

She has found that there is lots of reading to do on the council. “There’s a lot Environment Southland does that I didn’t know about going into it.

A Southlander, Bonnie lives in Invercargill with her partner Chris and two dogs, Argos a black Labrador-cross and Ferguson a Shepsky.

She is a PlayStation gamer who is keen to motivate young people to engage with councillors and council business.

“When you are young you think ‘this is happening to me’. You don’t realise you could have more control with what’s happening around you.”

Bonnie is proud of the work she does in her day job as digital and communications manager at the Invercargill Public Library, where she has worked for seven years.

She’s also doing her best to stick to her New Year’s resolution to not drive her car. She’s been taking the bus and riding her bike or scooter and has only twice driven her car when she’s needed to get to meetings quickly.

Peter McDonald - Hokonui Constituency

Peter has been involved in local environmental issues since 2002, including catchment groups and the Dipton Landcare Group.

He grew up on Gavenwood Farm, a hill country sheep farm in Dipton. He and his wife Kim took it over from his parents 20 years ago. The couple has two grown children.

The farm is 669 hectares, 130ha is thick scrub and native bush and it includes 29ha of QEII covenant.

On council, Peter is keen to see progress on water quality issues, while being mindful of urban and rural communities and their ability to cope in the short and medium terms. He says central government is likely to set direction, “but I’m keen to retain timeframes and implementation locally”.

Peter describes the work of council as fast paced. “It’s not all about rural water quality. There are a lot of different things happening all the time.”

In his own time, Peter is a regular columnist for farming pages and hunts wild pests on his farm, everything from goats to hares to deer.

He also likes talking to people. “You can get stuck in your own thoughts as a farmer. There’s a whole world out there and it’s good to find out what others think.”

Lloyd Esler - Invercargill–Rakiura Constituency

Lloyd came to Environment Southland after three terms on the Invercargill City Council because his interests are more Southland-wide and in freshwater and salt water.

“There’s a lot more passion. I’m still getting used to the friendliness.”

He wants to do his bit with the difficult issues – freshwater, climate change, the impact of cruise ships in Fiordland, toheroa. He’s also interested in developing the relationship with iwi.

Lloyd has been in Southland for 32 years. He was born in Takaka and grew up in the North Island, returning south to study botany at Otago University.

He has many hats – teacher, writer, tour guide, and he’s worked in museums. He also takes tour groups to the Auckland Islands and other sub Antarctic islands.

His first novel, Jack the Whale Boy, is about to be published. It’s a children’s book and will be part of a trilogy. He’s also planning to publish a natural history of Foveaux Strait this year.

Lloyd lives in Otatara in Invercargill and during the weekend often spends time with his 10-year-old buddy who he was paired up with through Presbyterian Support’s buddy programme.

“I’m quite happy here. There’s always some project or another and a book to be done.”