Sometimes, on these lovely hot summer days the mayoral mind is as prone to wandering as everybody else’s. 

Never during council meetings, obviously. After all, who could be distracted from the scintillating thrust and parry of issues as gripping as blocked drains and sewerage queries? But sometimes I dream that while the chains may not have magical powers, maybe I could make good things happen with them. 

For instance, now and again I find myself toying with a new bylaw that bans fences from the district. 

Because far too many people seem to think their main use is for sitting on. 

If you don’t have an opinion, that’s fine. But for those of you who do actually get involved and are part of developing the solutions – thank you and please keep going. We don’t always get it right but with your help we certainly do better. 

But it’s often the fence-sitters who complain after council matters have been settled. Having ignored their chance for input along the way, they then blame the council for decisions they don’t agree with. 

And that’s a shame because getting involved is really easy. 

For instance, try typing your pet peeve into the search engine on the council website - www.qldc.govt.nz - and see how fast you can be directly addressing us before you find yourself on the wrong side of ‘miffed’ with a one-way ticket to ‘grumpy’. 

And while you’re there, get on the Shaping Our Futures website and see how you can effect change not only for your own years to come, but also for your children and their descendants. 

Oh, and if you don’t have a computer, pick up the phone or drop in to see us on Gorge Road and we’ll help you have your say in the old-fashioned, face-to-face way. 

Better still, come to the Lake Hayes A&P show and make a start at the council stand on the subject of the district plan. While you’re there take a look at the livestock exhibits and see what fences are actually supposed to be used for. 

I allowed myself another daydream while on civic duty last weekend at the National Sevens. After seeing the news in Mountain Scene that Queenstown might not be the competition’s home in the future I was a little concerned. 

When I mentioned this in my opening speech I was delighted at the massive roar of support from the crowd. I’m hoping the smiles on the faces of the gathered New Zealand Rugby Union officials will translate into a positive result. 

It strikes me that the powers-that-be have actually just encouraged the rest of NZ to pull events like this together. 

It’s less of a threat to Queenstown and more of a recognition of how well our volunteers have done, so I’m touching the mayoral metalwork for luck I’m right on that one. 

Just now, though, the one thing that keeps coming back to me is this constant mental image I’ve got of being somewhere warm and safe, surrounded by families, couples, youngsters, and people of all ages. And they’re all just hanging out in the sunshine watching sports, listening to music, sampling the culture, laying back and taking life easy. 

The perfect district would have made this come true not only for its residents but also for hundreds of visitors who’d drop in for a short or long stay, become locals themselves for a while then plan to come again every year and tell all their friends about it. 

It would have started on December 31 and kept going until the end of January and would have been called something like ‘Summerdaze’. Actually, people could have found out about all of its great events on a website called www.summerdaze.co.nz. 

Hang on, maybe these chains really can do magic after all… 

Vanessa van Uden is the Queenstown Lakes District mayor