Penelope Anne Hulse is a New Zealand politician, and was Deputy Mayor of Auckland from the formation of the

Auckland Council Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...

Super City until 2016. She continues to represent the Waitākere Ward on the Auckland Council and is Chair of the Environment and Community Committee.

Political career

Hulse, born in South Africa, began her career in 1992 when she was elected to the Waitakere Community Board. As a board member, Hulse worked together with Dave Harré to save the Avondale railway station building, which was planned for demolition due to its poor state. After lobbying the

New Zealand Railways Corporation New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC) is the state-owned enterprise that owns the land beneath KiwiRail's railway network on behalf of the Crown. The Corporation has existed under a number of guises since 1982, when the old New Zealand Railway ...

, the station was refurbished and relocated to Swanson. In 1995 she was elected to the

Waitakere City Council Waitākere City was a territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitākere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%. In 2010 the council was a ...

. She was made deputy mayor in 2007 by Bob Harvey. In the 2010 Auckland Council elections Hulse won a seat in the Waitākere Ward. She was then made deputy mayor by

Len Brown Leonard Charles Brown (born 1 October 1956)) is a former mayor of Auckland, New Zealand, and former head of the Auckland Council. He won the 2010 Auckland mayoral election on 9 October 2010 and was sworn in as Mayor of Auckland on 1 Novembe ...

. She was re-elected in 2013. Hulse lives in

Te Atatū Peninsula Te Atatū Peninsula (formerly Te Atatu North) is a waterfront suburb of West Auckland surrounded by the Waitematā Harbour. The area was home to brickworks and farmland until the Northwestern Motorway was constructed in the 1950s, after which T ...

and took up cycling to work in the

Auckland CBD The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's lea ...

when the

Nelson Street Cycleway The Nelson Street Cycleway is a cycleway (and in some sections, a shared pathway for walking and cycling) in Auckland, New Zealand. The most well-known section of the path is , translated as, and commonly known as Lightpath (also known as the ...

was opened in December 2015. Hulse was re-elected to Council in 2016 and also the Waitakere Licensing Trust. The new Mayor of Auckland,

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 N ...

, did not reappoint her as deputy mayor and instead appointed her as the chairperson of the environment and community committee. She retired from Auckland Council at the 2019 local government elections. Since then she has served on the board of

Kāinga Ora Kāinga Ora, officially Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, is a Crown agency that provides rental housing for New Zealanders in need. It has Crown entity status under the Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities Act 2019. On 1 October 2019 K� ...

and on the independent panel reviewing the future for local government. In the 2020 New Year Honours, Hulse was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to local government.

References

External links

Office website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hulse, Penny Living people New Zealand left-wing activists Auckland Councillors Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand 21st-century New Zealand women politicians South African emigrants to New Zealand Year of birth missing (living people) Waitakere City Councillors Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit 20th-century New Zealand women politicians 20th-century New Zealand politicians