Gordonton District Committee

Come along to meetings and get involved with the community. The Gordonton District Committee meets five times a year in the Gordonton Hall.

“The committee is answerable to Waikato District Council. But it is important community issues are solved by the community ourselves and not have to go to Council all the time. The meetings create less red tape. It listens and acts on behalf of the community.” RIchard Riddell, past chairman.

Chair – Michael Grayson
Vice – no appointment made
Secretary – Lynda Jellyman
Hall Booking Office and Custodian – SallyAnn Riddell -ph 022 1077 562

Committee members

Name: Lynda Jellyman
Role: Secretary

Lynda has lived in Gordonton 24 years.  She says the role involves taking minutes at the meetings, typing and circulating these, also notifiying members and the public of dates and times of upcoming meetings.

How long have you been involved with the GDC? About 18 months
How did you first learn about it? My husband, Keith, used to attend meetings
What do you like about being on the committee? Meeting the representatives from the different groups and finding out what is happening in the community
Can you give us a little background about yourself?   I work and live at WEC Aotearoa on College Drive, next to Eastwest College. I enjoy gardening, walking, reading and handcrafts.
What other local clubs/organisations are you involved in? I belong to a book club linked to the Book Discussions Scheme and attend Oaks Christian Centre
What do you love about Gordonton? It’s a great location – rural but close to town.
We have great community facilities – the hall, Hukanui park, Hukanui marae, the Domain and pony club, tennis courts, golf club, hairdresser, good café’s and takeaway shop, Woodlands, the Mandarin Tree, a well stocked dairy, a local school, and 2 churches. There are a good number of active community groups.
What do we do well?  What could we do better? Gordonton is an attractive village with nice green spaces. I love the old oak trees. It would be good to have a few more reasons to stop here, for example a destination playground.

Name: Ant Rigter
Role: Represents the Gordonton Tennis Club

Ant says the role involves sending a report each meetings, updating on what is going on at the club and submitting any projects for discussion.

How long have you been involved with GDC? For five years, I was also on the BOT at Gordonton School. I became attending when I became treasurer of the tennis club.
What do you like about being on the committee? Keeping up to date with what is going on in the district, and having an input into the future.

What is your background? I’m a dairy farmer, have lived in Gordonton all my life.  My wife is Shell and our son Luka is just leaving home to attend university in Auckland.

What do you like about Gordonton? Gordonton is a great village with a great community and great facilities – shops, mechanics, vets, dairy, tennis courts, hall etc. And we help each other.

What could we do better? Possibly communicating what is happening in the district and maybe planning some community events, althought it’s a bit hard with covid.

Wait a minute, what are you doing in that photo?  It was my 50th birthday. We chartered the Windborne, an old yacht from Whitianga, and celebrated with around 20 people on board. Yes, I was walking the plank!

Name: Richard Riddell
Richard Riddell has lived all his life in Gordonton. He loves village life, and wants to achieve good outcomes for the area.  He is the fourth generation of the Riddell family to serve on the local hall committee.

“Gordonton has a real small rural community feel where everyone knows everybody. Yet you have the advantage of not being far from the city.”

Richard is married to Sally-Ann and the couple have three children.

Treasurer: Shona Day
Shona and husband Glen live on Whitikahu Rd, Gordonton, with their children, Ella, Caitlyn and Blake.

“We have lived in Gordonton for 15 years and have loved being part of the close-knit Gordonton community. We have made many friends through being involved in various events, particularily with Gordonton School. I play tennis at the Gordonton Tennis Club and have enjoyed many battles on our courts! We lead a very busy life, juggling work and kids with both Glen and I being self-employed. Glen is a home-kill butcher and I have a business selling medical alarms.”

Committee members – Richard Riddell, Gayle Pearson, Gordonton School principal, John Bridgman, Louise Wilson, Megan Goukrodger, Ant Rigter, Kirsty Alley, Stuart Finlan.

For information about Gordonton Hall, phone SallyAnn Riddell ph 022 1077 562

The GDC was formed in 1991 by amalgamating all the other committees in Gordonton such as the Domain Committee, the Hukanui Park Committee, the Gordonton Beautifying Society and the Hall Committee.

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