Packed agenda for last Whanganui District Council meeting of the year

Three councillors will be on a base salary rate if proposals are accepted. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Whanganui District Council is set to hold its final meeting of the year, and there is a lot to get through.

Seventeen reports will be discussed, from road closures for next year’s Vintage Weekend to the appointment of a climate action joint committee.

Committee chairs and their corresponding remunerations will also be confirmed.

Mayor Andrew Tripe revealed the new committee structure to the Chronicle before last month’s council meeting but an official announcement was delayed until this week due to “a few tweaks” needing to be made.

If confirmed, chairs will be Rob Vinsen (aspirations and future projects), Kate Joblin (strategy and policy), Jenny Duncan (operations and performance and chief executive’s performance review ) Josh Chandulal-Mackay (council controlled organisations), independent member Susan Kosmala (risk and assurance), and Tripe (emergency).

Aspirations and future projects is one of four new committees, along with council-controlled organisations, strategy and policy, and operations and performance.

“I am wanting a committee structure that gets stuff done,” Tripe said.

“Someone like Rob has been around for a while, he has experience but he’s also an action man as well.”

According to the Government’s remuneration authority, the minimum allowable remuneration for councillors is $36,734.

Proposed additional remuneration will lift that to $40,088 in Whanganui.

If the proposals were accepted, deputy mayor Helen Craig will be the highest paid at $60,132 per year.

Charlie Anderson, Ross Fallen, and Peter Oskam are the only councillors without chair/deputy chair roles and will receive the base rate of $40,088.

New councillors Glenda Brown (strategy & policy deputy chair), Charlotte Melser (strategy and policy deputy co-chair, youth council) and Michael Law (operations and performance deputy chair) will get an additional $2004 per year for their roles.

The pool for Whanganui District Councillors is $576,061 per year, all of which must be allocated.

Councillors will decide whether to oppose the Government’s Three Waters and Resource Management Reform proposals.

It is recommended the council supports the case for change but opposes both reform proposals, and doesn’t join C4LD (communities 4 local democracy).

An update on financial results for the three months ending September 30, 2022 will be given by way of a report from management accountant Wiehan Labuschagne.

Economic development agency Whanganui & Partners’ annual report will also be presented, and, if councillors agree, the 2022-2025 triennial agreement will be approved.

The agreement outlines processes for communication and coordination among local authorities in the region and must be signed by March 1 next year.

Upcoming council meetings are scheduled to take place every six weeks, with the next being on February 14, 2023.

Tuesday’s meeting begins at 1pm and can be attended in person or livestreamed via the council’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/whanganuidistrictcouncil