New Whanganui ratepayers association kicks off with strong message for district council

The New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy was a hot topic at the first Whanganui Residents and Ratepayers Association meeting. Photo / NZME

A ratepayers association is operating in Whanganui for the first time since 2021 and promises to put the district council “on notice”.

The organisation’s interim chairman, Graham Holloway, said he believed rate increases should be uniform across all sectors - “like Horizons (Regional Council)” - and a user-pays approach was needed for more council offerings, such as the Sarjeant Gallery and the district’s bus service, which was currently subsidised.

For the 2024/25 financial year, the average residential rates increase was 13.5%, with commercial properties rising 2.3%, farms rising 8% and lifestyle properties rising 6.5%.

Several Whanganui District councillors attended the first Whanganui Residents and Ratepayers Association meeting this week.

Councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay said he came “with a proverbial bulletproof vest” but it was not required.

“I was really impressed with how well run it was throughout the night,” he said.

“There was also some discussion around how they could productively advocate on behalf of ratepayers and residents.

“I got a clear sense that they didn’t want it to be purely adversarial.”

Graham Holloway says rates increases should be uniform across all sectors.

But Holloway said council would “get a rocket up their a***” if things did not change and attending council meetings and events was one way to do that.

“You just have to hound them and hold them totally to account, it’s not hard to do,” he said.

Councillor Michael Law, also at the meeting, said Holloway was “barking up the wrong tree” with a uniform percentage increase and commercial rates were already too high.

“It’s not about the increase for everyone, it’s about what everyone is actually paying, he said.

“In terms of rural areas, if you live in Mangamahu, how often would you actually come to town?

“Our rural community are unlikely to use services such as the Sarjeant Gallery, yet they contribute significantly towards it.”

Law said despite being booed at the event, he wanted as many people as possible to join the association.

“The overall thing (about the meeting) was people were very passionate and upset with rates rises - they aren’t seeing the value and they don’t feel like they are being heard.

“If they can get a few thousand people on their list then they come with clout.”

The new organisation is a separate entity from the Wanganui Ratepayers Association, whose annual general meeting in 2021 was deemed invalid because there was no quorum - the minimum number of members that must be present to make the proceedings valid.

Whanganui District councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay. Photo / NZME

Interim committee member Rachael Woodhead said she thought the meeting had been really positive.

“There were tough questions asked and some challenging conversations, but I think it’s a good start to building a bridge because people feel that the council isn’t listening,” she said.

“Events like this make everything a bit more transparent.”

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said he had enjoyed engaging with attendees but there were a few “generalised comments”.

“It’s easy to shout from the rooftops that rates are too high or that we’ve got too many consultants but when I challenged people for specifics, all I got was ‘you know what they are’,” he said.

“My other provocation was that when people really engage with local government, they realise it’s not as easy as it looks from the outside, whether that’s navigating central government legislation or navigating high interest and insurance costs.”

Tripe said he told the meeting that rates were unacceptably high across the country but the council was doing all it could to address that.

“We aren’t shying away from anything.

“We are here, we’re open and if you have any ideas on something we could do further, we are always happy to hear from you.”

Chandulal-Mackay said attendees expressed a lot of concerns about the New Zealand international Pilot Academy and the ratepayer cost of it.

“At this point, the viability of the academy very much hinges on the success of the IndiGo contract,” he said.

“If that thing, pardon the pun, takes off as the business plan envisages, the potential for return to the ratepayer is massive.

“Calling it quits just like that and closing the doors could actually end up costing the public more money because of all the sunk costs.”

Andrew Tripe says rates are unacceptably high across the country. Photo / NZME

Last November, the council inked a deal with Indian airline Indigo to train 200 cadets at the NZICPA over three years.

Holloway said the council had been “put on notice” and there were people in the community wanting change.

While he disagreed with the council on a lot issues, he said they were doing some things right, such as installing new roundabouts in the centre of town.

“They slow traffic down so people with walking deficiencies can get about more easily.

“Increasing the (SuperGold) parking card to a Saturday was also a good idea.”

However, rates remained the biggest issue, Holloway said.

“My comment at the end of [the meeting] was if councillors couldn’t get rates sorted, they would be finding themselves another job next year.

“They are there for us, we aren’t there for them.”

The next local elections will be held in 2025.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.