Mayor Tory Whanau breaks the ice on potential Wellington City Council cuts
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
Community projects, cycleways and Te Ngākau Civic Square are all on a list of capital projects Wellington could say goodbye to.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has lifted the lid to the public on the capital projects that could be chopped ahead of a committee workshop next week for the long-term plan.
The Government is appointing a Crown observer to the council after airport shares sale fell through, forcing the amendment of the long-term plan approved in June this year.
Details on who will be appointed have been kept under tight wraps, with Local Government Minister Simeon Brown offering no answers despite a hard deadline approaching.
Fourteen capital expenditure projects and programs could be reduced, deferred or removed from the long-term plan, as the council looks to plug a multimillion-dollar budget hole.
The projects were released in a statement on the council website on Tuesday and included community projects like the $7.5m Khandallah Pool upgrade, the $5.64m Kilbirnie skate park and the $13.2m Grenada North sports ground.
“In reviewing these projects I am endeavouring to stand by those key principles I set out of not increasing rates, fixing our water and not cutting social housing or critical climate action,” Whanau said in the statement.
Cycleways were also in the line of fire. The statement said the council recognised the loss of government co-funding, and whether it could prioritise completion of the primary network and get options for re-phasing the secondary routes.
Te Ngākau Civic Square updates would from now only focus on the work council had a statutory obligation to do.
Others on the list include Begonia House upgrade, Bond Store upgrade, Huetepara Park, Frank Kitts car park demolition and landscaping for the fale male and Chinese garden, Otari landscape plan, suburban centre upgrades and zoo masterplan.
Whanau acknowledged some of the projects were strongly supported by their communities and said she would “fully engage and listen to them throughout this process”.
“I am looking forward to hearing what the public thinks during consultation so that we can make these important decisions for Pōneke, together.”
Previous reporting from The Post revealed councillors responses to the possibility of potential cuts on the projects they campaigned on.
Other ways to address the city’s insurance risk include the sale of the council’s ground leases and carbon credit holdings, which Whanau said she would investigate.
The council has to make the calls on what to keep in its draft long-term plan by November 21, approve a draft budget by December 11, adopt a consultation document by March 13, consult with the community for a month, then approve a long-term plan amendment and annual plan on June 26.