Te Puke-Maketu ward candidates Attiya Andrew, Rewi Boy Corbett, Richard Crawford, Grant Dally, Kassie Ellis, Paul Haimona, Anish Paudel, John Scrimgeour, Andy Wichers, and Kim Williams.
Te Puke-Maketu ward candidates Attiya Andrew, Rewi Boy Corbett, Richard Crawford, Grant Dally, Kassie Ellis, Paul Haimona, Anish Paudel, John Scrimgeour, Andy Wichers, and Kim Williams.
What is the biggest housing issue facing Te Puke-Maketū?
That's just one of the questions the ward's candidates were faced with on Wednesday evening.
They met at Te Puke High School as part of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council's Meet the Candidates debate series.
The ward has 12 candidates standing for four seats: Present at the event were incumbents Grant Dally and John Scrimgeour and newcomers Attiya Andrew, Rewi Boy Corbett, Richard Crawford, Kassie Ellis, Paul Haimona, Anish Paudel, Andy Wichers, and Kim Williams. Candidates Shane Beech and Kris Murray were unable to attend.
Dally and Williams said population growth was the biggest housing issue facing the ward. Dally said this would also cause problems with congestion and infrastructure. Williams said there was not enough housing supply to meet demand, and the community should be consulted on ideas to remedy this.
Crawford and Wichers said affordability was the biggest issue. Crawford said there needed to be less stringent regulations from the council to reduce the cost of building. Wichers said the council could help with reducing the fixed land costs for developers.
Ellis said infrastructure, accessibility, and engagement were the biggest issues, and the community needed developers with the right mindset to build social housing.
Corbett said there needed to be more housing for the poor.
Andrew said rent prices were the biggest housing issue, and said the community needed to work together to address the issue.
Scrimgeour said the biggest issue was housing availability, exacerbated by the growth of kiwifruit and the need for workers. He said the council should work with developers and social agencies to enable housing.
Paudel said the problem was not just supply and population growth, but socio-economic factors as well.
Haimona said Te Puke-Maketū should be the example to the rest of the country, and should give a pūtea (fund/sum of money) to Māori land owners to build housing, and work with community groups to create places for the homeless to stay.
When asked whether the council had managed its water assets appropriately, most agreed that it had (Ellis did not explicitly say), and some mentioned or alluded to the Government's proposed Three Waters reform.
Paudel said he wanted to see councils keep control of water assets.
Haimona said the Western Bay should get a discount if Three Waters proceeds due to its good management.
Andrews said the community should stand up to central government and take their mana back to make decisions for itself.
Dally said there were problems with the Three Waters proposal including a lack of certainty about council ownership and community opposition.
Ellis said the community and council needed to work towards a better outcome than the proposal.
Both Scrimgeour and Wichers acknowledged the high cost of the water service the council delivers, but felt it was of good quality for that.
Corbett said the mauri (life force) of the water should be acknowledged.
Crawford said he had sympathy for those in areas with poor water infrastructure, but did not think the Te Puke-Maketū area should be penalised for that.
Williams suggested councils who struggled with their three waters could maybe seek advice from councils who did not.
On how they would deal with the Treaty of Waitangi in their role, Crawford said it was important to consult with iwi in the first instance.
Corbett said it was important to collaborate and incorporate the treaty in practice.
Andrews said the treaty was a contract, and required multiculturalism and duality. She said this would look like full consultation with mana whenua and tangata whenua and honouring the concepts of tikanga.
Te Puke-Maketu ward candidates Attiya Andrew, Rewi Boy Corbett, Richard Crawford, Grant Dally, Kassie Ellis, Paul Haimona, Anish Paudel, John Scrimgeour, Andy Wichers, and Kim Williams.
Williams said participation and consultation were key to reaching mutual goals.
Wichers said authentic engagement and relational trust were important, as well as an understanding of te ao Māori.
Scrimgeour said it was fundamental to any society that everybody works together and we should continue to engage with one another.
Paudel said it was important to understand and acknowledge the treaty and work together for better communities.
Haimona said the treaty was inclusive of Te Puke-Maketū and we should all remember the principle of "ko whakarongo e tangata", meaning listen to the people.
Ellis said the treaty was about authentic engagement and consultation.
Dally said Māori were historically mistreated despite the treaty, and he felt council staff were respectful and strong in this area. He said the future of communities was iwi empowerment, but he did not want 'radical co-governance' at a government level.
The candidates were given a hypothetical scenario where they had to decide whether to reduce funding for parks and reserves to pay for street light improvements for safety reasons.
Scrimgeour, Paudel, Williams, and Crawford said they would prioritise street lights for public safety.
Ellis and Wichers said it would be important to have public consultation on the question. Wichers said he would try to get the playground service for a cheaper rate by using local businesses.
Dally said he was in favour in general of spending on playgrounds.
Corbett said he wanted to see increased lighting on Te Ara Kahikatea Pathway.
Andrew said she did not agree with reducing the parks budget as it was important for wellbeing and fun, but said there was an issue with lighting in the area she lived in.
Haimona said he thought the question was silly and there were more important issues to talk about. He said he would include both parks and streetlighting in whatever budget was available.
Quickfire round
Each candidate was asked to give their position on a different combination of five statements from a pool of eight options. That meant some topics were not addressed by all candidates.
Rates increases are important to maintain infrastructure:
Yes: Kim Williams, Andy Wichers, Kassie Ellis, Rewi Boy Corbett. No: Paul Haimona
