We offered to pub­lish the answers from any can­di­dates in the local body elec­tions and Simon Marsh who is stand­ing in the East­ern Ward has stepped up.

1. You have 30 sec­onds to con­vince some­one to come to Welling­ton. What’s your pitch?
It’s a city with a beat­ing heart and good peo­ple. You’ll love WOW, The Sev­ens, Te Papa, City Gallery, shop­ping and busi­ness oppor­tu­ni­ties.

2. How do you think traf­fic flow to the hos­pi­tal and air­port could be improved?
Safer cycling routes, wider roads, con­ve­nient and reli­able pub­lic trans­port, progress on Basin Reserve/Mt Vic bot­tle­neck.

3. Where do you stand on the issue of open­ing up gov­ern­ment data?
All data? We com­pete in a glob­al mar­ket, why tell the world our plans before we imple­ment them.

4. What plans have do you have to improve recycling/composting facil­i­ties?
Roll on house­hold recy­cling wheel­i­b­ins. Offer each house­hold one annu­al free dump pass for green waste only.

5. What is your pol­i­cy on street alco­holics?
Sup­port the Sal­va­tion Army and oth­ers that have the skill but few funds to help.

6. Do you sup­port pedes­tri­an­i­sa­tion of the Gold­en Mile? Why/Why not?
No, it’s imprac­ti­cal for an age­ing pop­u­la­tion and also will incur major flow prob­lems with pub­lic trans­port on the adja­cent roads.

7. What’s the last local mar­ket you went to? What did you buy?
Chaf­fers, Broc­coli.

8. Describe your bicy­cle, or your favourite bus route?
Two wheels, grey and No 11.

9. When did you last use the library, a com­mu­ni­ty cen­tre, or a coun­cil-run sports facil­i­ty?
Tues­day.

10. Would you wel­come a cen­tral gov­ern­ment dri­ven “super-city” amal­ga­ma­tion of local author­i­ties? If not, why not?
No, how­ev­er I do believe there is dupli­ca­tion of ser­vices across the region that could save mon­ey.

11. Do you think the coun­cil has a role in fos­ter­ing com­mu­ni­ty web­sites? If so, how?
“Com­mu­ni­ty Web­sites” needs defin­ing. “Yes” as part of coun­cils com­mu­ni­ty respon­si­bil­i­ties. Through free inter­net and pro­vid­ing a site design tem­plate or set­up assis­tance.

12. Where do you stand on water pri­vati­sa­tion, and why?
Water is vital to our exis­tence, we do not need to sell off what will become an increas­ing­ly valu­able resource.

13. What city over­seas inspires your vision for Welling­ton? How?
Many, each with a mag­ic ingre­di­ent. Mel­bourne, art and events, Syd­ney tun­nels that whisk you from air­port to the city.

14. Is the con­cept of demo­c­ra­t­ic rep­re­sen­ta­tion impor­tant to you? How so?
Yes, if you want to have your say. That being the case don’t whine if you can’t be both­ered vot­ing.

15. What do you think about com­muu­ni­ty gar­dens on pub­lic land?
If the coun­cil pro­vides the land and they are run and fund­ed by a users co-oper­a­tive.