October 2022 saw a nail-biting finish to the Southland District (SDC) mayoral election race with the top three candidates separated by just a handful of votes.

After special votes were counted, Rob Scott finally emerged victorious by just 39 votes from his nearest rival.

“I started my job as Southland District Mayor a bit behind, because of the delay with the recount. The first few weeks were frantic. There were days when I was leaving home at 7am and getting back at 10pm,” Scott says.

“The key focus was getting the foundations right. It’s like building a house, you’ve got to start with good foundations.'

"Getting around to all the Community Boards to meet everyone, getting to know what they needed, what their aspirations are."

"It’s a big team, 54 Community Board members."

"I’ve visited all the Community Boards, but one – the Ardlussa Community Board."

"I’ve been asking a lot of questions on why things are done the way they are done."

"[However] A lot of it is to do with the legislation,” Scott said.

Scott’s biggest challenge is fitting everything into the day, dealing with all the calls and emails, prioritising. But he expected this.

He was chairman of the Lumsden Community Board for 3 terms before being elected as a district councillor in 2019.

This was a very valuable experience and has given him understanding of how things work on the inside and what needs to be changed.

Scott moved to Lumsden with his wife Jane in 2006 where they started two successful businesses, a print shop and the Route 6 Café, which has become very popular.

They have two children, 12-year-old son Levi and seven-year-old daughter Mia.

“I had a chat to the family to make sure that they knew what to expect. I’m also making sure that I allocate some time to spend with them. They come along to some of my mayoral activities on weekends. I try to structure my day well and I delegate to free up some of my time,” Scott says. 

As for their businesses, they will have to function without the boss for a while. 

“Jane took over running the Lumsden printing business. I stepped down from the café, and a manager stepped in. We have a really good team so we have organised staff to take over all of my duties. Only one thing we missed out – ordering of gas bottles. We found that out when the café ran out of gas,” he laughs.

His team of 13 councillors has a busy schedule of work for the next few weeks.

“We’ve got the long-term plan review coming up and a lot of reforms coming in, including the Three Waters and RMA reform. All feedback is due in the second week of February. With the foundation set up now, we’ll be rolling up our sleeves and making sure they get implemented,” Scott says.

 The Review into the Future for Local Government report is also looming, with the government asking for submissions to shape the final report and recommendations. 

“This potentially could bring amalgamation of the three Southland councils [Invercargill City Council, Gore District Councill and Southland District Councill]."

"We [SDC] are so unique. We have many different towns. We have tourism, agriculture, agri-tourism."

"Our contribution to GDP per head of the population is huge."

"There is a lot of demand for local government. The one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t work for Southland.”

 Despite these challenges, Scott says he thoroughly enjoys being a mayor.

“It’s a challenge I expected. I’ve enjoyed every day at work so far. I sleep well. It’s a very rewarding job.”