An Ashburton mayoral candidate says he’ll “make Ashburton great again”.
Jeff Ryan says he intends to run for mayor in the upcoming local elections, campaigning to “put a stop to the band-aid bridge”.
The government is funding Ashburton’s long awaited second bridge. Construction is due to begin in 2026.
Ryan wants to see work on the project stop immediately, and for the government to instead build a bypass from Dorie to Hinds around Ashburton.
He believes the bypass can be “built for free, paid for by having a toll” on what would become the new State Highway 1 route.
“A toll road pays for itself.”
Ryan’s plan would see the current State Highway 1 route through Ashburton become a local road – requiring the district council-NZTA co-funding. But Ryan expects NZTA to upgrade the existing 94-year-old Ashburton River Bridge before they hand the asset over to the council.
The bypass route would ease Ashburton’s congestion issues and provide a better insurance policy on the existing bridge which is vulnerable to flooding, Ryan said.
Ryan said he met with Mayor Neil Brown to discuss his “southern link” bypass idea last week.
“His rhyme did not match my reason,” Ryan said.
Unhappy with how the meeting went, Ryan decided he would run for mayor.
Ryan is also insisting on an urgent meeting with the new Minister of Transport Chris Bishop.
He believes people “were not informed” on the second bridge process and how it will impact house prices in the area, traffic flows, and the town overall.
The second bridge has been in the works since 2010 – when the district council of the day threw out the option of a bypass route (from Fairton to Winslow) as it was deemed too expensive and would not have received NZTA backing.
Instead, a second bridge off Chalmers Ave that will connect to Grahams Rd in Tinwald was selected and the option progressed.
The Government announced in December it would fully fund the bridge while the district council will fully find the connecting road.
With eight months until the local body elections, Ryan is the first candidate to confirm they will stand.
Mayor Brown has said he is going to announce if he will run for a third term as mayor in March.
Candidate nominations open on July 1.
Who is Jeff Ryan?
Ryan says his experience includes life as a soldier, farmer, radio announcer, winemaker and a rugby coach.
He grew up in Central Otago and moved to Ashburton in 1990, before moving away in 2001, with stints in Nelson and Tauranga, before relocating to Ashburton in 2021.
Ryan has 10 years as a sheep farmer, five years raising bull beef for export, three years owning and managing a dairy grazing operation, and built a meat company – “that eventually went under because we bought a packing that was wrong”.
Now the father of three is looking to add Ashburton Mayor to the list.
In terms of politics, he worked with Nelson Mayor Nick Smith during his time as Nelson MP around 2005-07 in a policy advisor role.
Smith confirmed Ryan was a campaign volunteer for the Nelson National Party from 2005-2007.
“His voluntary work included campaign activities and contributions to the development of policy for the 2008 General Election,” Smith said.
