Councillor Jon Mitchell

Councillor Jon Mitchell is elected to the Queenstown-Whakatipu Ward.

Contact Details

You can speak to Jon Mitchell directly by contacting:

TEL: +64 27 208 0375

jon.mitchell@qldc.govt.nz 

Statement from Jon Mitchell

Queenstown Lakes was home for my parents, where I was born and raised, and where our children have made their homes. I have seen massive change throughout my lifetime here. The current rate of growth is simply unsustainable and increasingly unaffordable for too many. Our communities need open, honest, inclusive, trusted leadership to enable them to feel they have more control over their destinies and the consequences of growth are better understood and managed.

My three decades of experience in local government, crisis and emergency management, collaborative, community-focused crisis leadership training, and community and economic development provide me with a skill and experience set very well suited to add real value to governance in our district and wider region. My earlier years of experience in adventure tourism, ski field and aerial cableway management, as well as my family's current off-grid eco-tourism business, give me useful insights into our current challenges.

Like an increasing number of Queenstown Lakes residents, I work mostly in the district remotely for my main employer, Massey University's Joint Centre for Disaster Research in Wellington. Further diversifying the local economy so that there are more education opportunities and more well-paying work in the district is one of my objectives. My other priorities are to:

  1. Rebuild trust between communities and QLDC by helping forge an open, trusting governance team.

  2. Reprioritise rates and spending policies to meet real community needs with much less optional spending.

  3. Use all tools available to bring growth under control to enable infrastructure to catch up.

I am here to listen to our communities and provide governance input to decision-making on the council, with our regional partners, and with central government to provide a more sustainable and resilient future for us and future generations.