We’ve provided a set of ques­tions for the may­or­al and coun­cil­lor can­did­ates to answer. First 25 words to an answer get pos­ted. Check our 2013 Elec­tion cov­er­age for all responses as they come in.

Here is Nic­ola Young, WCC can­did­ate for Lamb­ton Ward and the May­or­alty.

1.      What should be the city council’s role in help­ing home­less people and beg­gars?

Work with exist­ing organ­isa­tions eg: Wel­ling­ton Home­less­ness Women’s Trust. Don’t waste money on fol­lies (‘Altern­at­ive Giv­ing’). Under­stand some people don’t want to be housed.

2.      What would you do to make Wel­ling­ton more cycle and ped­es­tri­an friendly?

Need one cross-town route where cyc­lists have pri­or­ity, more bike racks, and great­er use of street furniture/planters in Golden Mile to sep­ar­ate traffic from…

3.      How do you think traffic flow to the hos­pit­al and air­port should be improved?

Planned infra­struc­ture upgrades will help (fly­over & second Mt Vic­tor­ia tun­nel); plus pri­or­ity bus and cycle lanes.

4.      What are your views on the sug­ges­tion Wel­ling­ton needs to be “more than just Weta and Gov­ern­ment” – what do you think are Wellington’s strengths?

More to Wel­ling­ton already! Brainy cit­izens – ICT and cre­at­ive sec­tors. Smart pub­lic ser­vants. Com­pact topo­graphy. True urb­an liv­ing. Loc­al quirk­i­ness.

5.      What will YOU do to get more invest­ment, busi­nesses, and busi­ness con­fid­ence in Wel­ling­ton?

Reduce red-tape and increase trans­par­ency; rates that are value-for-money. Encour­age incub­a­tion of small busi­nesses. WCC to adopt ‘can do’ atti­tude. Effi­cient…

6.      What does Wel­ling­ton need more of, and what does Wel­ling­ton need less of?

More fun; less black cloth­ing, less gloom. Bring back Cuba Street Car­ni­val. I have ideas for oth­er com­munity events with international/tourism poten­tial. Encour­age the…

7.      What would your city coun­cil provide for chil­dren and young people?

Cur­rent facil­it­ies are good. Main­tain lib­rary ser­vices and need more sports fields with arti­fi­cial turf. Improved pub­lic trans­port.

8.      What steps would you take to encour­age civic engage­ment?

Encour­age pub­lic events. Build on city’s cap­it­al status to raise aware­ness, with focus on polit­ic­al his­tory and its importance/relevance to our lives. Tour­ism poten­tial…

9.      Tell us about your per­son­al earth­quake plan / What’s unusu­al about your earth­quake kit?

Check on my neigh­bours. /Sachets of Indi­an food (also used for cater­ing on annu­al tramps with a veget­ari­an friend), bottle of scent and face-cream.

10.   Why should we vote for you?

Com­mon­sense, new ideas, high energy, hard-work­ing, gets things done, busi­ness per­spect­ive, inter­na­tion­al exper­i­ence; born ‘n bred loc­al, inter­ested in arts; not a time-serv­er.

11.   Where can we find out more about what you stand for?

www.nicolayoung.co.nz (basic web­site, but I built it); www.facebook.com/NicolaYoungForWellingtonMayor; or call me on 021 654 844