Jo Davies-Colley’s role as community board chair is to deliver and advocate for Cambridge. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Do not expect to see any political in-fighting on the Cambridge Community Board while Jo Davies-Colley is chair.
It is an environment she wants nothing to do with and she thinks voters and mayor Susan O’Regan have delivered her a team of doers who will work hard for the community and steer clear of petty politics.
How the 41-year-old was elected chair is a classic example of how they are going to get on with it. They met each other in advance of the inaugural meeting at Lake Karāpiro and again on the day confirming Davies-Colley in the chair and Elise Badger as her chair.
“I was really pleased how unified we were with it,” she said.
“Our job as a community board is to advocate to council about how our community feels. Our main focus is advocacy and representation.”
The new Cambridge Community Board from left: Elise Badger, Alana MacKay, Jo Davies-Colley, Andrew Myers, Mike Montgomerie, Sue Milner. The other member is Philip Coles.
Three of the board – Davies-Colley, Badger and Alana MacKay were newbies last term and bring that experience into a second term. Former chair Sue Milner was a district councillor while Andrew Myers of Maungatautari is the only new face.
O’Regan appointed new district councillor Mike Montgomerie, who was on the board the previous term, and two-term councillor and former board member Philip Coles, a team Davies-Colley says she is “really pleased” with.
Last term was a messy one with most meetings held by Zoom and community events limited.
“It wasn’t the same experience that we will get now,” she said.
A pre-election review of community boards means there is a new focus this term.
Jo Davies-Colley – “We aim to be more visible and open our public forums, so people feel comfortable coming to us.” Photo: Mary Anne Gill
“Our priority is overall to be good advocates to council about issues that are important to the community and to be that real link.
“We aim to be more visible and open our public forums, so people feel comfortable coming to us.”
Priorities include connecting with youth, critically important with so many young families in town.
Davies-Colley was born in Auckland and came to Cambridge with husband Christian, a large animal vet at Vetora.
The couple have two girls aged 11 and 9 and a boy aged 7. They all attend Cambridge Primary School and cycle to school. Davies-Colley is a huge fan of urban mobility and describes the Streets for People project of last term as a positive one but with communication difficulties.
It trialled more than 25 temporary changes on several streets in Cambridge to create routes for children to safely and easily, walk, bike and scooter to school around town.
This term she hopes the council gives the community board more of a heads up about projects like Streets for People so they can be the voice of the community.
Davies-Colley was a hospital midwife at Middlemore Hospital before moving to Cambridge.
“I wanted to do something meaningful and one of my skills is relationship building, compassion and empathy.
“I loved being with women in that caring role.”
The shared connection with her husband, who works in the rural areas, makes for interesting conversations around the dinner table when they talk about such things as breech births.
She no longer practices but wants to return to midwifery one day.
“I really love being in the community and I really love some of the smaller issues. I like chatting to people about what matters to them.”
Davies-Colley was brought up in Italy as a teenager and attended high school there. Her grandmother was Italian.
“I’ve maintained that connection with my culture,” she said and now teaches Italian language classes.
She also helps in her husband’s veterinary practice coordinating emergency vet calls at the weekend, all of which allows her to work around the family and now the Cambridge community.
