Roy Alexander McLennan (30 October 1924 – 18 September 2013) was a New Zealand local-body politician. He served as

mayor of Nelson The mayor of Nelson is the head of the municipal government of Nelson, New Zealand, and presides over the Nelson City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a single transferable vote electoral system. The current mayor is Nick Smith, wh ...

from 1971 to 1980.

Early life and family

Born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in 1924, McLennan was the son of A. J. McLennan. He was educated at

Rongotai College Rongotai College is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in the southeastern suburb of Rongotai, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), the school has 622 students as of July 2015. About 40 per cent of the student ...

and, from 1940 to 1941,

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. The school also has ...

.''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...

and served in the Royal Navy

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

as a Cadet (1943–45). McLennan married Noelene Clark in 1948 and had two sons and a daughter. From 1950 to 1970 he was a civil engineering contractor and Director of R A McLennan Ltd, McLennan's Transport Ltd, Flaxmere Quarries, Concrete Metal Ltd, Amalgamated Contractors Ltd, and Bulk Bitumen Ltd. From 1964 to 1970 he was National Secretary of the New Zealand Contractors Federation and from 1966 to 1971 the Scouts Association.

Political career

In 1970 he was elected to the

Nelson City Council Nelson City Council is a unitary local authority. It has its headquarters in Nelson. History Nelson City Council was created in 1992. Local governance of Nelson began with Nelson Province in 1853, which covered the entire upper South Island. ...

, becoming mayor from 1971 to 1980. He was on the Nelson Harbour Board from 1971 to 1974. During his term as mayor a reclamation was proposed for residential purposes at Nelson Haven. There was strong public opposition and he decided at a public meeting that the proposal should not go ahead. He did not have Council support at the time for his decision and the matter took some time to be finally resolved in the objectors' favour. In the

1993 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1993 were appointments by most of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countr ...

, McLennan was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to local-body and community affairs. In 2008, McLennan cut the cake with a sword in celebration of

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

's 150th anniversary of becoming a city. He died at Nelson in 2013, and was buried in Marsden Valley Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLennan, Roy 1924 births 2013 deaths People educated at Nelson College Royal New Zealand Navy personnel of World War II Mayors of Nelson, New Zealand New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Rongotai College Burials at Marsden Valley Cemetery Unsuccessful candidates in the 1969 New Zealand general election Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II