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’s the response from Mal­colm Spar­row, can­did­ate for North­ern Ward.

1. What should be the city council’s role in help­ing home­less people and beg­gars?
Work with com­munity groups like DCM as well as cent­ral gov­ern­ment to ensure prac­tic­al help is avail­able.

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

Look at the prac­tic­al­ity of cycle lanes, more shared path­ways like the Tawa Val­ley Path­way, and pos­sibly some car-free zones.

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

Pro­gress needs to be made on both the fly­over and the second Mt Vic tun­nel, as well as ensur­ing effi­cient pub­lic trans­port options.

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?

We know we’re already more than that.  We have many well-edu­cated and innov­at­ive people – make the most of what they have to offer.

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

Push for more con­sulta­tion with the busi­ness com­munity and push for great­er pro­mo­tion of Wel­ling­ton domest­ic­ally and inter­na­tion­ally.

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

It needs more employ­ment oppor­tun­it­ies so people don’t have to look else­where for work.  We need less dither­ing when it comes to get­ting things done.

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

A couple of arti­fi­cial turfs in the north­ern sub­urbs, anoth­er skate­board park or two, and an oppor­tun­ity for more input from the Youth Coun­cil.

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

Encour­age more com­munity input into loc­al pro­jects.  Liaise more closely with schools.

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

Fairly stand­ard kit but I recently pur­chased a 200 litre water tank which is now filled and tethered to a (hope­fully) sturdy tree.

10. Why should we vote for you?

I have a track record of work­ing hard in my com­munity and would like the oppor­tun­ity of work­ing sim­il­arly for my ward and city.

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

www.malcolmsparrow.com