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Sara Templeton

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Councillor
Sara Templeton
Templeton in 2019 wearing her Sustainable Development Goals necklace
Member of the Christchurch City Council for the Heathcote ward
Incumbent
Assumed office
15 October 2016
Preceded byPaul Lonsdale
Personal details
Born (1971-11-23) 23 November 1971 (age 53)
Political partyStrong Communities; Sustainable Future
Alma materUniversity of Canterbury
Templeton's voice
recorded March 2025

Sara Louise Templeton (née Beswick, born 23 November 1971) is a New Zealand politician and member of the Christchurch City Council. A former teacher and small business owner, Templeton was first elected to the Hagley–Ferrymead community board in 2013 and has been councillor for the Heathcote ward since 2016.

In October 2024 she announced that she would contest the Christchurch mayoralty at the 2025 New Zealand local elections.

Early life and education

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Sara Louise Beswick was born in Christchurch in 1971 to Ian and Kathy Beswick.[1] She was educated at Burnside High School and Onslow College.[2] She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Canterbury in 1995.[3] She was a secondary school English and drama teacher before entering local politics, and also owned an eco-friendly baby wipes business.[4][5]

Living in Heathcote Valley near the epicentre of the 2011 earthquake, Templeton was one of a number of local community leaders who helped with earthquake recovery, and she helped establish a community garden behind St Mary's Church. She was awarded a Civic Earthquake Award for services to the community presented by Mayor Bob Parker on 18 December 2012.[6][7] Templeton co-edited a book with Sooze Harris, published in 2016, Heathcote: The Upside: Community Creativity, Innovation and Initiative in Response to the Christchurch Earthquakes. The book details the community-led projects in the Heathcote Valley in the first five years after the Christchurch earthquakes.[8][9] She served as chair of the Heathcote Valley Community Association.[10]

Political career

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Community board and councillor

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Templeton entered politics when she was elected to the Hagley-Ferrymead community board in 2013.[11] She was nominated as chair of the board during her term.[10] In 2015, plans by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority to revamp Victoria Square generated significant public upset, forcing a period of public consultation on the proposed changes.[12] An independent reference group was set up, which Templeton chaired, and this led to a new restoration plan being launched in September 2016.[13][14]

In 2016 Templeton stood for election as a councillor in the Heathcote ward. She ran under the banner of 'Strong Communities for a Stronger Christchurch' and won the election by a margin of more than 1500 votes, unseating sitting councillor Paul Lonsdale.[15][16]

Templeton was re-elected to council in 2019[17][18] and won a third term in 2022.[19] In her second and third terms, Templeton was appointed a director of Christchurch City Holdings, a company which manages around $3 billion of council assets.[20][21] She resigned as director in 2025, after five years.[22]

Templeton is a former Green Party member and is known for her advocacy on climate change issues, including public and active transport.[17][23] She holds the council's climate change portfolio and previously chaired the council's sustainability and community resilience committee.[24][25] When the council's 2023 draft long-term plan removed all funding for cycleways, she said: "I expect to see an option presented that helps us meet our approved emissions reduction targets. Short-term thinking is a disservice to our communities facing the challenges of a climate-impacted future.”[25]

In 2021, Templeton requested the council remove library fines at Christchurch City libraries, as she believed they disadvantaged some groups. The policy was adopted in March 2022.[26][27] In 2022 Templeton was one of three councillors to vote against increasing the budget for the Te Kaha stadium.[28] She objected on the basis that the additional cost would be born by ratepayers, either though rates increases or cuts to services.[28]

Mayoral candidacy

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In 2022 it was suggested that Templeton might be considering running for mayor when Lianne Dalziel retires.[10][18] However, Templeton did not run and later said she had declined to run because she had been recovering from melanoma.[11] In October 2024 Templeton announced that she would contest the Christchurch mayoralty at the 2025 New Zealand local elections as an independent candidate. She would not stand again in the Heathcote ward to focus on the mayoral campaign.[11]

Online harassment

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In July 2021, during her second term as a city councillor, Templeton revealed to the media that she was the target of online harassment from two Facebook accounts with fake names. When the accounts were blocked from her page, they began a smear campaign against her by messaging and posting misinformation about her on other pages. They also attempted to get access to her personal Facebook page through the Official Information Act, and when they were denied, one of them complained to the Ombudsman. The same Facebook accounts were also responsible for targeting politicians Sarah Pallett and Megan Woods.[29][30] Templeton complained to the District Court and investigations traced the IP address to a house owned by New Zealand National Party member Bryce Beattie. His housemate Jessee Mackenzie admitted to the harassment and both Beattie and Mackenzie resigned from the Young Nats, and Beattie withdrew as an independent candidate in the local elections.[31][32][33][34][35]

In August 2023, Templeton said she had to increase her home security after online comments targeted her, after she laid a code of conduct complaint against fellow councillor Aaron Keown.[36]

Personal life

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Templeton lives in the Heathcote Valley and travels to work by bus or bicycle.[23] Templeton often wears a wooden necklace that represents the UN sustainable development goals that are most important to her, which are good health and wellbeing, gender equality, sustainable cities and communities, climate action, and peace, justice and strong institutions.[23]

Templeton has three children. She co-parents with her husband, who she is separated from.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Births". The Press. No. 32773. 25 November 1971. p. 25. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  2. ^ Templeton, Sara. "Sara Templeton: Christchurch City Councillor: Putting our Future First". LinkedIn. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Graduate Search - Alumni Association | University of Canterbury". The University of Canterbury. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  4. ^ Law, Tina (10 October 2016). "New city councillors join the ranks". The Press. pp. A3. ProQuest 1827106077.
  5. ^ "Entrepreneurial mums running for council". Now to Love - New Zealand. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  6. ^ leadership lab. "A story of the Heathcote Community, Heathcote Village Project, and the Christchurch Earthquakes" (PDF). leadershiplab.co.nz.
  7. ^ Christchurch City Council. "Christchurch Earthquake Awards Recipients List" (PDF). Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Heathcote: The Upside". HVCC. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Sara Templeton". Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  10. ^ a b c "Templeton hints at mayoralty bid", Otago Daily Times, 4 May 2022, retrieved 11 October 2024
  11. ^ a b c d Law, Tina (11 October 2024), "Sara Templeton announces bid for Christchurch mayoralty", The Press, retrieved 11 October 2024
  12. ^ Yardley, Mike (2 February 2015). "Cera sees sense over Victoria Square revamp". Stuff. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Future Christchurch Update: The Voice of the Canterbury Rebuild" (PDF). Future Christchurch Update. August 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Developed Design for Victoria Square Restoration Released". Crown Infrastructure Delivery. 24 September 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  15. ^ "2016 local elections". Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  16. ^ Conan Young (11 October 2016). "Mayor, rejigged council refocus on Christchurch CBD". RNZ. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  17. ^ a b Gibson, Jess (22 October 2019). "Templeton focuses on climate change". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  18. ^ a b Law, Tina (5 May 2022). "Councillor who outed her online bully is considering running for Christchurch mayoralty". Stuff. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Final election results released", Newsline, 14 October 2022, retrieved 11 October 2024
  20. ^ McDonald, Liz (17 May 2024). "Council wants new CCHL chair name within days". Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Call for review into council oversight of CCHL after directors quit". Otago Daily Times. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  22. ^ Lynch, Chris (21 January 2025). "Heathcote Councillor and mayoral candidate Sara Templeton resigns from CCHL board". Chris Lynch Media. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  23. ^ a b c Edwardes, Tracey (31 July 2019). "Walking the talk". Metropol. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  24. ^ Templeton, Sara (29 August 2022). "Sustainability and Community Resilience Committee 2019-22 — Election 2022". Sara Templeton. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  25. ^ a b Law, Tina (9 September 2023). "Councillors 'shocked and surprised' at move to scrap cycleway funding". The Press. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  26. ^ "Council votes to end fines for overdue library items". Newsline. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  27. ^ Law, Tina (22 November 2021). "Policy of overdue library fines only deprives the disadvantaged, say critics". Stuff. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  28. ^ a b Williams, David (14 July 2022), "In defence of Christchurch's dissenting three", Newsroom, retrieved 11 October 2024
  29. ^ Law, Tina (9 July 2021). "Enough is enough: Christchurch City councillor calls out online bullying". Stuff. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  30. ^ Law, Tina (31 March 2022). "Online bullying of female politicians linked to Young Nat's house". Stuff. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  31. ^ Rachel Sadler; The Project (31 March 2022). "'I was losing sleep': Harassed councillor 'relieved' online troll Young Nat outed himself". Newshub. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  32. ^ Jamie Ensor (31 March 2022). "Two Young Nats resign from party after allegations of online trolling against female politicians". Newshub. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  33. ^ "Two Young Nats resign after female politicians harassed online". The New Zealand Herald. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  34. ^ "Two Young Nats resign after female politicians trolled online". 1News. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  35. ^ Duff, Michelle (7 November 2023). Jacinda Ardern: The Full Story of an Extraordinary Prime Minister. Allen & Unwin. p. 300. ISBN 978-1-99-100662-2. Wikidata Q125145504.
  36. ^ "Christchurch city councillor increases home security after threatening online comments". The New Zealand Herald. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
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