1. HDC has struggled over allocating land to housing/industrial development versus protecting productive soils in the district. Do you believe the right decisions are being made?
In Hastings and Havelock North, we absolutely have to prioritise urban densification over urban sprawl. The fertile Heretaunga Plains are our economic lifeblood and, as alluvial floodplains, are not well-suited to new housing development. Urban densification yields multiple benefits: more opportunities for public and active transport (taking pressure off our roads), economies of scale in infrastructure investment, and more vibrant town centres and public spaces, to name just a few. If peri-urban housing is needed, there are less productive hills in the region that are much more suitable for than the plains.
2. HDC plans to spend $80 million over the next three years to improve water infrastructure? Is this appropriate and who should pay?
Water infrastructure investment is a can that has been kicked down the road for decades. Previous generations didn’t want to pay for it and now those chickens are coming home to roost. The newly-formed COO between HDC, NCC, HBRC, and CHBDC will allow us to spread the costs over a larger population. Also, this kind of inter-generational benefit is what borrowing is for. What we shouldn’t be borrowing for is day-to-day maintenance costs like lawnmowing and pot-hole repairs.
3. Name 2-3 specific HDC projects, policies or spends over the past three years with which you personally disagree.
With the exception of under-investment in water infrastructure, I’m not going to comment on decisions that previous Councils have made. I’m bringing a fresh vision for our town that empowers individuals to pay their own mortgages, rents, and rates, keeps money in the local economy, keeps Hastings and Havelock North desirable as places to live, gives communities more opportunities to participate in decision-making, and more sovereignty over the outcomes that will affect them.
4. Should residential water metering be introduced in the Hastings District?
Metering elsewhere in the country has had the benefit of revealing where major leaks in the water network are and allowing Councils to make large efficiency gains by targeting repair work. However, I do not believe that residential users should be expected to pay per drop for their water, while water bottlers pay no royalties and irrigators pump 40mm over their crops in the middle of the afternoon when it’s 34 degrees in the shade. We need to use the water resources we have more wisely before we talk about adding another cost on to families, renters, pensioners, and small businesses.
5. Do you believe councils’ rates should be ‘capped’ by legislation?
I grew up in a town that was killed by commercial rates rises following the global financial crisis. I never want to see that happen here. That’s why my focus is on building wealth in the community so we can all afford to pay our rates. If we think that rate rises need to be capped to inflation by legislation in Wellington, then what we actually need is for real wages to improve at or above the rate of inflation. That’s how we pay off our debts and afford the things we want and need as a community.
6. Do you personally support retaining Māori seats at your council table?
Yes. Māori Wards are a fair, democratic mechanism that guarantee tangata whenua representation at the Council table, which is bare minimum in terms of Treaty obligations. One day, we won’t need them but that day hasn’t arrived yet. I hope, expect, and work to see that day in my lifetime.
7. Does Hawke’s Bay need five councils, or do you support amalgamation, in any form?
Hawke’s Bay covers a large and varied area, but five Councils is an awful lot for 200,000 people, isn’t it? I support amalgamation between Hastings and Napier, but I doubt amalgamation would be appropriate for Wairoa. Beyond Hastings and Napier, it should be a choice for the communities themselves, but when we see the savings from councils cooperating on water infrastructure, I expect we’ll be having this conversation again with renewed vigour.
8. Would you support Councils appointing an independent “Hawke’s Bay Auditor General” to monitor councils’ spending and programme performance?
I support reducing the number of sitting Councillors, and using the wages from just one Councillor to pay for up to two Citizens’ Assemblies per year. This will allow the community to decide for themselves, with all the facts before them, whether they think things like an Auditor General would be a good use of their money.
