Palmerston North City Council’s Long-Term Plan attracts 1443 submisisons

A submission to Palmerston North City Council's Long-Term Plan showing what Chloe thinks the city will look like in 2034.

Palmerston North resident Malcolm Frith wants the city council to establish a feedback department to make it easier for people to express their concerns.

Last week, he started his oral submission on the council’s Long-Term Plan (LTP) by asking God for wisdom for the city.

“We seem today to always be in a hurry to get rid of the old for the new yet we never consider the cost of that.”

Residents could go to the department to have their concerns listened to and put into the system instead of getting a “shutdown” from staff such as he and others have received when trying to raise an issue, Frith said.

Elected members spent three days listening to submitters starting at 9am last Wednesday and finishing at 7.43pm on Friday.

The council received 1443 written submissions on its LTP, which when printed filled 11 foolscap folders. They are also on the council’s website.

From facilities to finances, rates to recycling, libraries to leaves, submitters traversed wide ground.

Former city councillor Bruce Wilson said one of the good things about democracy is that we don’t have to agree on everything.

“So I accept that you won’t necessarily heed my advice and you are allowed to be wrong some of the time and we can all be comfortable in that.”

Wilson told the elected members Palmerston North is “a city of 80 or 90,000 traffic experts, many of whom of course have been speaking out loudly about some of your recent developments with all the wisdom and experience that they’ve previously accumulated”.

Everyone should wait until the Featherston St changes are finished to see if they will work. “It might be a good street.”

Cameron Smith said he could not recall any other action carried out by the council that was as foolish as the Featherston St changes. They have caused a “traffic nightmare”, especially for emergency vehicles.

Chris Sibley said Central Energy Trust Arena should be replaced with multi-storey housing. “Most days of the week you walk past and it’s empty, you can hear a pin.” Sibley said ratepayers should not be supporting speedway and professional rugby.

Elizabeth Ottaway would love a central point for soft plastics recycling.

Tom Carr said a community centre and library are needed in Summerhill as residents “up on the hill” can feel left out.

Richard Langley said the proposed cycleway between Feilding and Palmerston North is ludicrous and the cost astronomical.

Eleven folders are needed for the 1443 submissions Palmerston North City Council received on its Long-Term Plan. Photo / Judith Lacy

GP Dr Sam Illing said the council should focus on essentials not luxuries, needs not wants. People were struggling to pay for food, housing and health-related costs.

Bobbi Murray read a letter from her friend and employer Denial Mudgway expressing thanks for the council’s support of The Stomach.

The 36-year-old lives with severe scoliosis and since 2021 has been drumming at The Stomach and now jams with a friend.

The Stomach had enriched his life in ways that were hard to express. “Some might say it saved my life. Please I beg of you to do everything possible to support this awesome crew by retaining and funding the community outreach co-ordinator.”

Mike Clement, who stood for the council in 2022, urged those who were successful to “stop spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need”.

Robin Richards is looking forward to the election next year to help remedy “the mistakes we have made in the past by electing the wrong people”.

Helen Dollery said rates are good value for money. “It’s very easy to squeal about what is being done with ‘my money’ yet very few of us could do without the services they provide us with as a city.”

Submitters who made oral presentations had 10 minutes to speak. Elected members had to ask questions within this timeframe as well. Sometimes this meant time ran out before all those who wished to ask a question could.

Officers will now analyse the submissions, including how many people support or don’t support the options presented in the LTP. Elected members will begin their deliberations on May 29.

Judith Lacy has been editor of the Manawatū Guardian since December 2020. She graduated from journalism school in 2001, and this is her second role editing a community paper.