Waikato District Mayor Jacqui Church avoids punishing commute by living in a caravan

A Kiwi mayor unwilling to spend hours a day in her car commuting to and from the office has found a somewhat unconventional workaround: “Living in a tiny house on wheels”.

In other words, a caravan.

Waikato District Mayor Jacqui Church’s actual home is in Port Waikato, in the far northwest of the sprawling 400,000-acre region. The council’s offices are in Ngaruawahia – an hour-and-a-quarter’s drive away, and that is when the roads are open (not always a given, as the town discovered in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle).

“When I decided to stand for mayor I thought long and hard about it, knowing that I wanted to be close and give it 150 percent,” Church told Checkpoint on Monday, two weeks after moving into the caravan, parked on family land just a few minutes’ drive from work.

“I felt the best thing to do would be to move closer to council so I could give it my all, but that would be upending our family.”

Luckily her husband, who works in Pukekohe, was up for moving to Ngaruawahia.

“He’s a great husband and he said, ‘Sure, let’s go for it.'”

At first they looked for a rental. Unable to get one, they moved in with her aunt and uncle before opting for the caravan – a Bailey ‘Unicorn’ model.

“I think that’s actually quite apt, Church said. “First female mayor of the Waikato District Council, so I live in a Unicorn caravan with my husband. And we’ve got a fabulous view of the Hakarimata Ranges… so I get a view of those when I wake up in the morning.”

Being closer to the centre of the district, and on wheels, will give her the chance to get around and meet more of the locals.

“I’ve come from a community background and got into politics, and so really from that community advocation point of view, I always think the best thing to do is to be with the community, to understand community, and hopefully you know, sit there and wait for people to come and visit me.”

Winter was not putting her off – she said it was “pretty warm and cosy and insulated, unlike her Port Waikato home, and had all the mod cons – including TV, a microwave and perhaps most importantly, wifi.

But at the end of the day, it was still a caravan sitting in a field.

“I’ve had to navigate in my high heels around opening and shutting the farm gate, and not getting the the cows out.”