As the local government elections draw closer, it seems a good time to check the rear vision mirror for the bouquets and brickbats of the past three years.
There is no doubt that Greater Wellington Regional Council has received a few of both as it negotiated what has proved to be a challenging triennium.
No hindsight review could be written overlooking the Wairarapa train so let us start there. Trains have been running between Masterton and Wellington since 1878 and have been an important connection for our region since then. The history books show the line endured all sorts of challenges, mainly around weather, but nowhere is there a mention of not having enough staff to run the service. That brickbat goes to Transdev, who operate our current trains under contract, for failing to notice that some senior staff members were close to retirement and not having enough qualified people to run a full roster.
The train bouquet needs to be a big one and shared around. Firstly, to GWRC which pushed and pushed successive governments for investment in the public transport network over our whole region, particularly the regional trains. Next, the two previous governments which recognised the long overdue need for investment in their aged and ailing rail infrastructure. Finally, our current government which finally signed off the budget for our new rolling stock plus several million more in track maintenance, thanks to an incredible effort from GWRC/Metlink staff. The result is investment of around eight hundred million dollars in our train service. Things may feel a bit grim now but once the line maintenance is up to date and the new carriages arrive, it will be a shot in the arm for Wairarapa.
The other bouquet goes to the GW Flood Management team. Their proactive planning for flood prevention meant Wairarapa received nearly sixteen million dollars of government funding for resilience projects. We have also been able to increase our investment in the flood warning systems we have. People only need to look at the recent floods in Texas to see what happens when no warning system exists.
Love or hate the Regional Council, it is responsible for most of the big-ticket items that affect us. We must be sure of who will deliver these projects for Wairarapa if central government decides that the time for local government reorganisation has come.
With apologies to Lewis Carroll: ‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said, ‘To talk of many things: Of inflation – tax – and power bills – Of floods – and other things – And why our trains are often late – And why our rates have wings.’
