Capital Crisis: Wellington not at its best, mayor admits
Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Wellington, we love you, but the city is at a crossroads. The Post examines in detail why the capital has lagged behind other world class cities, and where the solutions lie.
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau says she has several issues to discuss with Government ministers in an upcoming meeting – including the region’s plan for three waters investment, the council getting a share of GST, an extension to the earthquake prone building deadline and cuts to the public service.
In a one-on-one interview hosted by The Post editor Tracy Watkins at noon on Wednesday, Whanau agreed that the city had been hit by a perfect storm and was not at its best.
“What I feel like is we never really bounced back from Covid. We’ve been in this static period.”
A series of issues including water restrictions, controversy over the secretive Reading Cinemas deal, high rates rises and the upcoming deadline for earthquake strengthening had hit the city hard.
An average rates increase of 18% would be in store for households across the city. Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry listed the rates rises around the region in a tweet today, saying “the system is broken”.
The rest of the region will be hit by similar rates increases – almost 20% from the regional council and Upper Hutt City Council, 17.5% from Porirua City Council and 16.9% from Hutt City Council.
In response to a question from a reader about how pensioners on fixed incomes would manage, Whanau said she would encourage anyone struggling to use the rates rebate scheme.
The high rates rises were a “tough” result of the council looking to its long-term priorities including housing and water infrastructure. “We always knew the pipes were bad but given the summer that’s just passed, we didn’t know it was that bad,” Whanau said.
The public service cuts had worried her since before the election, when both major parties had agreed that some cuts were needed.
But she believed her vision for the city was what would turn it around, and committed to running for re-election in next year’s local body elections. “This job is tough, no doubt about that, but I’m very committed,” she said.
The Reading Cinemas deal, where the council is in the process of agreeing to purchase land under the derelict cinema complex for $32 million to fund the earthquake strengthening of the complex, was not a bail-out, said Whanau.
“The vibe I got was that they were committed … What I’m happy about now is they want to put tens of millions into the development.”
The redevelopment of the building, often called an eyesore, could happen sooner than the ten-year deadline Reading had been given. The 10-year period had been agreed as part of the negotiations.
Cycleways and car parks are a topical issue in the city as changes to encourage more people to bike continue, with parking changes in Newtown and Berhampore the latest source of criticism, this time from nurses and doctors.
Moving quickly with an accelerated cycleway roll-out and changes to car parking was not going too far, too fast, said Whanau.
The council was making “significant changes” and it was really normal to see a lot of emotions over that.
“Once it’s bedded in, people come on board.”
The Post has this month been running a series called Capital Crisis, looking at the major issues putting a handbrake on the city’s prosperity while it also grapples with unprecedented rates rise challenges.
These include housing affordability, stagnating population, the character versus density debate, earthquake-prone buildings, state of infrastructure, insurance threats caused by natural hazards and the struggling central city.