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22 May 2006

MAYOR'S E-COLUMN

RECLAIMING THE RIVERFRONT

Tomorrow (Tuesday) Crs Dot McKinnon, Nicki Higgie and myself are off on a speculative trip to Wellington to meet with Prime Minister Helen Clark. It is a meeting at the PM’s request – issued the day after last year’s general election and whilst we were sharing a studio at TVNZ’s HQ in Auckland.

It has taken six months for mutual diaries to coincide but there will be three issues that dominate our discussions – the conservation needs of the Sarjeant Art Gallery collections, Police numbers in Wanganui and the cost of central government imposts upon local government.

So what are the background to these issues?

Central Government Imposts

Probably the most important issue facing local government is central government demand. I’m not averse to Wellington taking a greater interest in local body affairs because the local sector has not exactly been a byword for efficiency or effectiveness.

The Local Government Act (2002) sets some fairly rigid disciplines upon territorial and regional authorities, and most of them are good. But there are also increasing demands that local government start “owning” central government responsibilities – be they licensing brothels or micro-chipping dogs, earthquake-proofing buildings or paying six figure sums to the Audit Office to run the ruler over our draft LTCCPs.

Our council is currently working out the actual cost of these central demands upon local ratepayers. But I would surmise that a good 2% of your projected 3% rate rise this year is due to increased responsibilities placed upon us by the Beehive.

Increasingly, we are also picking up the pieces (and bill) when central government does not properly discharge its own duties. Police numbers are a good example – we pay $50,000 to keep our voluntary community patrols on the street. Another would be the financial contribution that we are expected to make to Ucol’s relocation to the Old Town.

Whether anything tangible comes out of Tuesday’s meeting, we’ll have to wait and see. But any dialogue is good and if it contributes central funding to any of the above issues, then it will have been well worth the journey!

The riverfront development

This week I will be publicly releasing plans for the proposed riverfront development from the Town Bridge to the ‘Waimarie’.
It was a project that ranked second in last year’s referendum but one that has been fraught with miscommunication and misunderstanding. Originally, it was conceived as a Rotary centennial project but soon became too expensive, too skilled and too complex for those clubs. As a result it was taken over by the council but, here too, the project foundered due to a lack of direction.

As a result of the referendum, this new council took a more direct and active interest – and assumed total control of the project. We have had extensive plans drawn of the development – which is aimed to do three things;

1. Provide a cantilevered boardwalk from the Town Bridge to the ‘Waimarie’ and link with the wooden jetty on the other side of the bridge;
2. Attract pedestrian traffic to the riverfront area and “reclaim” the river
as a recreational/tourist amenity;
3. Rejuvenate the riverfront area so that it becomes a prime
entertainment/residential area.

It is also anticipated that it will add to the experience of the ‘Waimarie’ and Old Town areas and so has a direct economic and commercial component. I am convinced that it will be an investment from which every ratepayer will gain a direct and enduring return.

There are two plans that will be unveiled today (Monday). A $1.0 million boardwalk/development and a $1.6 million alternative. The latter is the superior in the sense that it extends the boardwalk, whereas the former touches terra firma at Drews Avenue.

I will be posting the plans on this and the council’s website later today. My preference? The $1.6 million alternative. Do it once, and do it right … that’s my view. Council has already made the policy decision to fund the development from asset sales, with the final version awaiting council’s deliberation.

Gang By-law & LTCCP Submissions

From memory only about five or six submissions have been received on the gang by-law, and evenly split between for and against. The submissions are set down to be heard by council on Thursday afternoon and hen council will deliberate upon the final wording of the by-law.

To have so few submissions generally suggests that the public are totally in accord with council’s plans. Which is certainly my understanding of the public will in Wanganui.

The same might be said of the public submissions to the LTCCP. There are around 200 and many are multiple Xerox copies relating to either the confusion over dog licensing or the rural/community halls. Unlike last year – when it took three days to hear public submissions to the annual plan – this year they will all be completed in a day!

Contrast that with many other councils throughout New Zealand that have been deluged with upset petitioners. All relate to the same issue – savage double digit rate increases. I see my colleagues in the Rangitikei have received 350 submissions from a population roughly one-third of Wanganui’s.

I am also getting many requests to speak around New Zealand on the “Wanganui miracle” – on how we can keep our rates down and on how we also undertake our internal efficiencies. It is, of course, not a miracle but a culmination of strong policy direction, a rejuvenated management team and the growing internal adoption of a philosophy that it is not our money that we are spending … but the ratepayers’. We’re not quite there yet – but the progress these past 18 months has been staggering.

And at home …

Great to have my stepdaughter Ella home for her boarding school break – she’s almost as tall as Leo now which means, ahem, she’s probably taller than me. This is also the time when we begin preparing for Zoe’s arrival – think we might need a bigger house if Lucy’s activities are any indication.

I’ve posted a couple of recent photos of her on my mayoral website. She really is the light of our life. Smart, sassy and always on the go. To have two Lucy’s – once Zoe arrives – will really keep us on our toes!

After a week of 4am starts for the Radio Live breakfasts, I must say I was delighted to be back doing talkback from 9am. Long term, I would like to host breakfast radio but not while I’m mayor. Well, mayor and Dad to these little ones. The latter is far more important to me.

Until next week, hope this week works out well for you.

Cheers
Michael