Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau and Crown Observer Lindsay McKenzie.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau and Crown Observer Lindsay McKenzie.
Opinion by Georgina Campbell
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
There was confusion at the beginning of the meeting over procedural issues, including voting and making changes via amendments.
Councillors took a 20-minute break to get on the same page.
“We are back from procedural hell,” committee chairwoman Councillor Rebecca Matthews announced when they returned.
Long-term Plan, Finance, and Performance Committee chairwoman councillor Rebecca Matthews. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The situation was reminiscent of Local Government Minister Simeon Brown’s press release outlining his reasons for appointing a Crown observer at Wellington City Council.
“Recent council meetings have also seen councillors walk out, refusing to participate in votes, and confusion regarding decisions, amendments, and voting,” Brown said.
Freshly appointed Crown observer Lindsay McKenzie sat at a long table next to the council’s executive leadership team in the meeting.
His face remained neutral as he carefully listened to the to-ing and fro-ing.
Oh, to know what he was thinking as councillors grappled with the technicalities of re-writing a 10-year budget.
He did let the Herald know during one of the many breaks that he would respectfully decline an interview request about his background and first impressions of the council.
This was because he needed to reserve his observations for the reports he was obligated to make to the Local Government Minister.
The terms of reference for his appointment say he must provide monthly reports and an interim report by the end of February.
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has appointed Lindsay McKenzie as Wellington City Council's Crown observer.
Matthews went on to tell councillors they could ask questions, then they would have lunch and then they would debate the budget cuts.
“Remember your questions will keep us from lunch,” she told her colleagues in a bid to keep it snappy.
Councillors had their lunch in another room while members of the public and staff were left to graze on cheese, crackers, hummus, fruit, and chocolate biscuits.
Mayor Tory Whanau introduced 21 changes to the budget cuts council officials had floated.
As a result, the new Kilbirnie skate park was saved from the chopping block as was the beloved summer pool in the leafy suburb of Khandallah.
Whanau has said she is “super focused” on delivering an amended LTP as speculation swirls about whether she still wants another term in Wellington’s top job.
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Back in the budget cut meeting, there were also three sets of amendments from councillors, each of which had to be debated and involved a total of 28 separate votes.
Another adjournment addressed a discrepancy in how many millions of dollars were being saved.
In the break, several council officials brought laptops over to the table and huddled together to consult spreadsheets as Councillor Nicola Young briefed the press bench about the history of Begonia House.
The future of Begonia House remains in doubt despite fond memories of Venus flytraps being shared.
Another five-minute adjournment was taken to sort out Councillor Tim Brown’s “issues” with his amendment.
Councillors had to agree to extend the meeting beyond six hours before the clock struck 3.30pm.
They then debated the final set of cuts. Some councillors thanked the mayor while others were more critical.
Councillor Tony Randle said: “This council still can’t make a hard decision”.
Matthews offered her observations on what was wrong with the council as the meeting came to an end.
The council endlessly relitigated everything and councillors were not clear about their roles, she said.
“Around this table, we have too many mayors.”
The actual mayor, Whanau, said: “Let’s show the Government that we’ve done this successfully and that our wonderful observer, Lindsay over there, has nothing to worry about.”
The rough calculation is that councillors agreed on between $380 and $400 million worth of cuts today but officials still need to work through the finer details.
Whanau said these projects are proposed to be cut, rephased or rescoped:
Begonia House
Bond Store upgrade
City Streets transport funding
Karori Events Centre
Te Ngakau Civic Square
Venue upgrades
Frank Kitts Park redevelopment
Otari Landscape Plan
Zoo glamping development
Te Awe Mapara Community Facilities Plan
Whanau said reducing the capital program was tough but believes it balances reducing the city’s insurance risk with investing in Wellington’s future, nature, housing, and transport.
“As we work through this process, I am ensuring that we will still be investing into key projects such as our water infrastructure and social housing while also protecting our climate change initiatives,” she said.
These projects were still part of the Long-Term Plan process:
$1.8bn investment in water infrastructure.
Public and active transport improvements including a new Harbour Quays bus route.
Library and community upgrades including nearly $100m to complete and reopen the central city Library Te Matapihi.
Climate action with initiatives to degasify the pool network and reduce waste going to landfill.
Upgrading social housing so tenants have safe and warm homes.
Funding over $70m for central city and suburban parks and spaces, including the Green Network Plan and suburban centre upgrades.
Retention of the Golden Mile transformation.
This meeting is just one part of the extensive process councillors must work through to amend the LTP.
The plan is to have a new draft budget finalised after the committee meets again on December 17 — just the Christmas present every Wellingtonian has on their wishlist.
