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Cr Hilary Calvert
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Cr Hilary Calvert
Chairperson - Dunedin Constituency
| Portfolio: | Strategy and Customer |
| Email: | Hilary.Calvert@orc.govt.nz |
| Tel: | 021 407 262 |
Someone who has seen the law from all sides: as an MP in Parliament understanding how law is made, as a lawyer representing people who have come up against it, and as a councillor being involved in where territorial and regional councils contribute to our regulatory system. Hilary brings years of experience moderating between different views. The key to successful outcome, she says, is to look for the approaches people agree on, get down to the small areas we can live with. As a lawyer, being able to see the other person’s side is crucial.
Her second time on the Otago Regional Council, “I came back because people were concerned about rising rates and not enough visible outcomes and I thought I could help deliver value for money.” This triennium she wants Otago’s to be the best regional council in New Zealand. “I want the government to hold us up and say, ‘That works, be like Otago.’” The recipe for achieving this will include having good information provided to councillors for decision making so they can show their workings – “that way the public can see everything that was in front of us and why decisions were made.”
Tenacious and scrupulous, Hilary is also a huge fan of the traditional home arts: baking, sewing and gardening. Her speciality is whimsical birthday cakes that wouldn’t be out of place on the television show Is it Cake? With 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren, there are a lot to be baked over the course of a year.
One part of Otago that has a special place in her heart is the big sky Ida Valley, east of the Manuherikia. New Year’s Eve sees the whole family gather at the tiny settlement of Oturehua where, outside the pub, homemade rockets are launched to the delight of the kids.
