Daughter looks to follow in councillor mother’s footsteps

Like mother, like daughter.

When Lois Livingston died in November last year, her seat on the Waikato Regional Council opened up.

Her daughter Adrienne Livingston entered the byelection race, acknowledging her mother’s values.

“My mother was a strong woman,” said Livingston, an ecologist.

She knew from her mother how split the regional council was when it came to making decisions about the future of the Waikato River, and she decided that if she wanted to make a difference, she had to be in the right position to be heard.

“Everything we do on land affects the river,” she said. 

“You can’t just sit on your ivory towers, you can’t just write reports to shelve, you need to get into politics,” said Livingston.

Only four of the 14 regional councillors are women,  and Livingston said she wants to help create a more equal and diverse council.

She first considered standing in the byelection while she was on a holiday up north, when she met a student that had been in one of her lectures a few years ago.

The student had just been elected to the Whangarei council, and told Livingston she should go for the seat.

If Livingston wins her mother’s former seat on the regional council, she wants to see the river’s health improve, as well as encourage sustainable subdivision design.

This would involve architects, when designing a house, ensure that it making the most of natural resources, she said.

“Peacocke [in south Hamilton] is a perfect situation, it has a gully system,” she said.

• Politics in the Tron is holding a meet the candidates on the March 15 at 6pm at the Nivara Lounge on Victoria Street.
• Voting finishes on the April 11.