Councillor Raewyn Loader - MDC

Access for our rural kids to get to school should be one of our top priorities!

How have the bus cuts impacted you, your family, your business, or your community?

Raewyn Beattie I agree.
Technology should make life better, not harder - thanks for sharing this. 💻🤖📳📶📵⌨️😩

743 responses. Countless conversations.

For the past month we've been talking about local government reform in community halls, online, at market, the Saleyards and over a few cups of tea too. ☕

The result?

✅ 743 community responses
✅ The most selected option (85.6%) was Option One – opposing compulsory amalgamation while exploring alternative reform options.

A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to be part of the conversation. Your feedback will help inform Council's decision on 22 July.

Click here to read the full release: https://www.mdc.govt.nz/projects-and-news/news/2026/743-community-responses-received-on-local-government-reform

Please support 🤎 starting soon so get going. 🏃‍♂️ Our tamariki are performing 😍

To marry or not to marry?

LAST CHANCE! Tomorrow (30 June) is your final opportunity to have your say on amalgamation.

Should Manawatū District remain independent or consider amalgamation?
Whatever your view, make sure it's heard before submissions close tomorrow.
This decision will shape local representation, services, rates and our community for generations.

Submit your feedback:
https://makeyourmark.manawatudc.govt.nz/localgovernmentreform

Like the 💩 pond, there's a lot to process before deciding our future.

Over the past two weeks I've attended several local government reform meetings and listened to residents share their views.

The message has been clear:

• The process feels rushed• There isn't enough information available • People value local representation and local decision-making.

Before any significant change is made, our communities deserve clear information, robust evidence, and sufficient time to consider the options.

If you haven't had your say, please take a few minutes to tick a box or make a submission. Click on the link below:

Whatever your view, it's important your voice is heard.

https://www.mdc.govt.nz/have-your-say⁠�

Ngā mihi,
Raewyn Loader - Manawatū District Councillor

⏱️ Spend 4 Minutes Now — Help Shape the Next 50 Years.

This is one of the most important conversations about the future of Manawatū you'll have a chance to be part of.

The decisions made now will influence who represents us, how services are delivered, and how ratepayer money is spent for years to come.

Don't leave this decision to someone else.

Future generations will live with the choices we make today.

Take 4 minutes. Have your say.

👇

Should Local Decisions Stay Local? The future of local government in New Zealand is being discussed right now. Are you part of the conversation?

Everyone deserves a roof over their heads.
If you know what it's like growing up in social housing - you know.
A safe, stable home can make or break our tamariki.
As the new social housing bill is debated in Aotearoa, let’s remember the people and realities behind the policies - our whānau, our people.
Thank you to the Sally’s and all the social organisations supporting our communities every day. Because it's the right thing to do! ❤️

I've been sitting with today's social housing announcement and I keep coming back to the same thought: this policy has been designed around numbers on a spreadsheet, not around people.
Let me tell you what I see.
Social housing is not where people choose to live — it's where they end up when every other door has closed. The private rental market has already rejected them: their income is too low, their history too complicated, their family too large. For these New Zealanders, social housing is not a stepping stone. It is the floor.
Today the Government decided to charge them more for it. From April next year, minimum rent contributions rise from 25% to 30% of income. For 84,000 households, that's an average of $31 more a week. I want you to think about what $31 means when you have nothing to spare. It doesn't get absorbed. It becomes debt. And debt, for people already at the edge, has consequences that ripple through families for years.
The redesigned needs assessment will funnel the most complex, highest-needs people into social housing — but without any additional funding for the wraparound support that makes tenancies work. We are being asked to house the hardest cases with fewer resources to support them.
And then there are duration limits. The Government's own data shows these people cannot access the private market. Putting a time limit on their tenancy doesn't create a pathway out. It creates a deadline — and on the other side of that deadline is the street.
I also want to speak up for the community housing providers — the charities, trusts, and iwi — who stepped forward when the state couldn't do this alone. They invested their own money, built homes, and signed long-term contracts in good faith. They were not consulted before today's announcement. They find out the same way everyone else does — through the news.
That's a profound breach of trust with organisations that took a risk to help solve a public problem.
Good housing policy creates stability. Stability creates everything else — health, education, employment, family wellbeing. What was announced today undermines all of that, and shifts the cost onto the people and organisations least equipped to bear it.
I'll keep saying this until someone listens.

🇳🇿 ANZAC Day – Lest We Forget 🌺

This Friday we come together across our district to remember and honour those who served.

Feilding Dawn Service
• 5:30am – RSA opens
• 6:00am – Assemble Bowen St
• 6:30am – Service at the Soldiers Memorial in the Square

Other services across the district:
• Himatangi Beach – oitside the Cosmopolitan Club - 6:00am
• Kimbolton/Kiwitea - from 7:45am
• Rangiwahia - 8:30am
• Hiwinui - 10:00am (War Memorial, Watershed Rd)
• Rongotea - 10:00am (Douglas Square)
• Pohangina and Rangiotu hall -10:00am

• Halcombe -10:45am (Cenotaph)

There are plenty of opportunities to attend a service close to home — I encourage you to support your local community.

ANZAC Day is a time for reflection, connection, and gratitude.

We remember them.