Councillor Comments

Besides having meetings to fulfill the Long Term Plan obligations and try and keep our rate increase – 4.31% – down to the bare minimum our usual Focus Groups and meetings have kept all Councillors very busy. 

I attended an excellent Combined Council Meeting in Greytown with presentations on Local Governance the hot topic, Earthquakes and Faults, the Wellington Free Ambulance, Earthcare – our waste collectors, Destination Wairarapa and the proposed Wairarapa Arts Festival.  There is so much positive stuff happening out there. 

Closer to home our Civil Defence Emergency Management team in Council invited all the Team Leaders and volunteers in for a presentation on our Community Response Plan.  These key people have kindly offered to guide our community in the event  of an emergency. 

They all have experience, knowledge and personal attributes required to contribute to such a response.  They are about to undergo a training process and we thank them all for their commitment and time on behalf of the community we all live in.   I will keep you updated as we progress through the Training and consolidate our network in the rural areas.
Julie Riddell

Well I’ve had a torrid couple of weeks and I’m sure my fellow Councillors would agree. Two days of the Long Term Plan (LTP) hearings and deliberations then on the following Wednesday approving the LTP, plus several other Council meetings thrown into the mix. Well I suppose some muggins has to do the job, some of it enjoyable and some with a level of tedium.

You may well ask what this LTP all about.  It’s a 10 year plan of which the first 3 years are bedded down and Council is obliged to follow, any significant change requires additional public consultation.

Okay, the Plan is really about looking after 390 million dollars worth of infrastructural assets. Yep, our communities own 390M worth of roading, water, sewerage, drainage, land and building assets. That’s one hell of a lot when considering our population and rating base. Council has a statutory requirement to regularly value our assets to ensure depreciation is funded adequately.

Council had about 90 submissions to the LTP of which 30 were presented and spoken to, most requesting money some urging frugality, some appreciative some very detailed, all had been read and were discussed. All submissions will be replied to with Council’s decision. To all those submitters a big thanks for going the distance.

Two things I would like to stress, Council takes all submissions seriously and when approving the Long Term Plan we are very mindful of the impact the funding has on rates and the ability to pay.

The Mayor and Councillors have a tough task ensuring there are sufficient funds available to maintain the levels of service, be compliant to statutory requirements and balance this with satisfying the community needs and affordability. It should be remembered that cutting or deferring costs, lowering levels of service have a habit creating significantly more cost down the track. Interest rates are low, keeping people in work is important. If we have a global melt down Council like others will be forced to batten down. 

Having many years in local government I must have a gripe about successive Government’s interference with local government. They all come and go but not without some thumb screwing, words that come to mind, “sticking to core business, too small, inefficient, not accountable, more transparency, insufficient consultation, cost reduction” etc. etc. Some changes are good, some plain dumb and others just add more cost to be spread among rate payers, “but to be sure to be sure” they all have to tinker! 
Cheers Max Stevens