1. Do you support the flood diversion scheme for North Clyde recommended by Crown Manager Lawrence Yule, the Regional Council and current Wairoa Council?
Yes – our priority must be protecting our town from future flood events. I remain grateful to the Government for providing$70million for this project to help protect our community. I fought long and hard to secure and ring-fence the funding for Wairoa, and I believe this presents an enormous opportunity for our town, which is vulnerable to flooding and has never had any flood mitigation measures in place in the past.
2. Name 2-3 specific WDC projects, policies or spends over the past three years with which you personally disagree.
I support the supply of safe drinking water. However, because both the current and previous Governments have had reforms in this space, through 3 Waters and Local Waters Done Well, there have been unnecessary bureaucratic costs imposed on local government. Our Council has had to invest a significant amount of time and money supplying information to meet the changing and legislative requirements of Central Government.
The cost of compliance because of government acts, legislation and laws: Council is being expected to do more, but is often not provided with matching income streams. An example is the cost in a Civil Defence emergency, many of these expenses fall on the ratepayer, with limited associated funding from Central Government.
3. What Council spending or other initiatives would you support to improve Wairoa’s economic well-being?
My biggest concern is the government removing the four wellbeings(social, economic, cultural, and environmental) out of local government through the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill. The government and its agencies are presently failing to deliver core services, leaving massive gaps, which is why councils have had to step in to support their communities. We need a guarantee from central government that if they remove the wellbeings that they will fill the void. I am all for Councils doing the basics well, but we are constantly picking up the pieces of other agencies that aren’t delivering the services they are paid to deliver – and Councils are not compensated for this work. This wide-ranging and generalised approach could have very negative consequences on small, isolated communities like Wairoa, as we would not be able to focus and advocate on behalf of our community.
We are working on a Special Economic Zone for Wairoa to enable our district to realise its unique economic opportunities and achieve local, regional and national benefits.
We need a decision made on the future of rail within the Wairoa district so we can look at other options, such as cycleways and tourism.
It is encouraging to see the current government trying to lessen some of the regulations that everyone in our country has to abide by. However, they have a long way to go to get to a place where good old-fashioned kiwi ingenuity is not being stifled by legislation and costs.
We need funding initiatives to help those not yet back in their homes and still suffering financially from Cyclone Gabrielle and the June HBRC flood event, and to support housing initiatives involving iwi and other stakeholders.
4. Unlike Napier, Hastings and CHB Councils (who are forming a joint water entity), Wairoa Council has decided to ‘go it alone’ with respect to delivering water services. Do you agree?
Yes, the Council made the right decision. The best choice for Wairoa is to develop a localised plan and deliver it smartly, utilising Wairoa’s nimbleness and drawing on specialised expertise where needed. We haven’t shut the door on future relationships with Hawke’s Bay, Tairawhiti or anywhere else, and have retained flexibility to collaborate and cooperate with other water entities from other districts and to be adaptive around potential changes and standards.
Wairoa has already experienced the detrimental impacts of removing localised services and delivering them from a more regionalised approach. It is also important to protect our localised arrangements, such as the water partnership with our biggest employer, the Affco processing plant.
5. Most WDC debt relates to the need to maintain and improve its water assets, with significant improvement required. Should WDC step up its borrowing to make these improvements?
Wairoa’s three waters, like the rest of the country, can be improved, but I don’t believe ‘significant improvement’ is needed in Wairoa. Until the new CCO is formed, Wairoa District Council remains responsible for three water services and will continue business as usual. Under a new CCO, there will be more headroom to borrow; however, it is important that the new entity is prudent in its borrowings, ensuring it does not become unaffordable to the people connected to the services.
6. WDC current policy aims to limit rate increases to 5%. But this assumed WDC joined a regional water services entity, off-loading current debt and borrowing costs, which it has now declined to do (as noted above). Do you believe WDC rate increases can be kept to 5%? How?
We are always committed to keeping rates as low as possible. The cost of running a Council is based on the levels of service the community want. I believe rate increases can be kept to 5% but the levels of service delivered would reflect that. This is a conversation we again need to have with our community. In conjunction with that, we also need to continue advocating to receive external funding. I have been very successful in lobbying MPs and government agencies over the past few years, and I will continue to do so, which has significantly contributed to achieving this year’s average rates increase of 5.2% – the lowest in Hawke’s Bay and one of the lowest in the country. We are grateful for the attention, support and funding we have received from the Central Government. A single CCO operating Wairoa’s three water services will have a very similar funding model to that of Wairoa joining a regional or any other model.
7. Do you believe councils’ rates should be ‘capped’ by legislation?
I share the government’s concern about increased rates. However, one size does not fit all, especially in Wairoa’s case. If the government wants rates to be capped at 5% or less, then all other associated costs need to be capped at the same rate, ie, insurance, power, construction, roading, services, and government legislation costs – and we know this isn’t possible. The government also needs to guarantee it will pay 100% for the effects of weather events – otherwise, we won’t be able to progress as a district.
8. Does Hawke’s Bay need five councils, or do you supportamalgamation, in any form?
Wairoa has seen the impacts of the erosion of services and centralisation, and it has not been kind to us. Our isolation means one local authority for the whole of Hawke’s Bay would not serve us well. A sad but good example of this is Wairoa’s continued battle to be heard at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council table.
9. Would you support Councils appointing an independent “Hawke’s Bay Auditor General” to monitor councils’ spending and programme performance?
No, it would be another level of unnecessary bureaucracy. We need to address the elephant in the room, which is that the current funding model for local government is broken, not fit for purpose and needs urgent review.
