Whanganui district councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan.
Whanganui district councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan.
THREE KEY FACTS:
The mayor has announced a portfolio restructuring.
Getting in behind the “save the aviary” group.
Future of outdoor facilities.
Whanganui district councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan is a triple world rowing champion, double Olympian and seventh-term councillor
OPINION
The mayor has announced a portfolio restructuring with councillors taking a lead in numerous portfolios like housing and homelessness, youth, parks, sport and recreation which should provide a first reference point for people to raise issues and engage.
It should also help ensure issues like the aviary are tackled with the community, rather than reacted to after the messy way this item has been handled over the past two years.
It was so heartening to get in behind the “save the aviary” group to bring their 2000-plus petition to the
council. They are well led by people like Grant Rogerson and Karen Matthews, with a wealth of ability and talent amongst them to form a trust to manage the aviary going forward.
I believe we should have been working with them over the past 12 months, so the outcry when the council consulted to close the aviary again in the Long Term Plan (LTP) could have been avoided.
I’m delighted to be leading the parks, sport and recreation portfolio area again, as I am passionate about the difference an active and healthy lifestyle can make to the lives of children and whanau.
The council has a key role in providing a variety of open spaces and facilities like swimming pools and parks to promote active lifestyles. We also need to support the numerous sports clubs and organisations, like Whanganui netball, football and many more.
These largely volunteer clubs not only run their sports but they also upgrade facilities and pay community lease rates to the council.
If we want to have new generations of Whanganui Olympians, like the amazing Kerri Williams, Jackie Gowler and Max Brown, the council needs to work closely with our sports community and grant funders to ensure the cost for families to support their children play sports remains affordable, or it will affect the activity and health of our children.
I’m looking forward to working more closely with the community and Sport Whanganui to make informed and good decisions around the future of outdoor swimming, protecting our new $2 million Velodrome Track and other key facilities, like the Jubilee and Springvale Stadiums, which are ably managed by a voluntary trust.
The Whanganui District Council building is in Guyton St, Whanganui.
Finally, submissions close on August 4 on the council’s representative review, which is basically about how many councillors you want to represent you. I was pleased to see the council overturn the working party’s preference to reduce the total number of councillors from 12 to 10, noting that the decision has already been made that two councillors will be elected from a Maori ward, thereby the proposal out for consultation means there will be 10 general ward councillors elected in 2025, as opposed to 12 at present.
We know an open question to the community asking if you want fewer or more councillors typically results in people saying less, believing it will cost them less.
This is not the case; the pool of remuneration does not change! The only obvious benefit of fewer councillors is they will get paid more, but it is very likely to make it harder for new candidates to get elected, with some refresh of council important to democracy.
The fact is three of the four lowest-polling councillors at the last local government election are new councillors, so a reduction in numbers is likely to make it harder for any council refresh, apart from any resignations at the end of this term in October 2025. I look forward to your submissions.
