Whanganui rates rise: Councillors share thoughts on proposed 10.6 per cent increase

Whanganui district councillors have had their say on a potential rates increase of 10.6 per cent, and none are happy about it.

The council green-lighted public consultation on its next 10-year Long Term Plan (LTP), which also tackles rates for 2024/25, at a meeting this week.

Councillor Charlie Anderson was the only elected member present to vote against the consultation document.

He said he hoped the upcoming kerbside recycling service would have been kicked into touch, rather than the possible closure of the Whanganui East Pool.

“Those that recycle already do it, and those that don’t won’t.”

Earlier this week, Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said the kerbside service had added 2.4 per cent to the rates rise.

Councillor Michael Law questioned whether, as suggested in the consultation document, keeping the pool open would cost ratepayers $420,000 a year and closing the aviary would save them $190,000.

“Where is the low [rates] option?” he said.

“There are hundreds asking me that. You are going to have to write a submission.

“It doesn’t matter if you email councillors and it doesn’t matter if you put it on Facebook, you need to be in the submission process.”

The “low option” – a 5.3 per cent increase – was one of three revealed by the council last December.

Tripe said he challenged social media comments saying the council was wasting money.

“If you think that’s the case, tell us where that is.

“I’m happy to look at anything.”

The council needed to look after the community in the near term but be aspirational for the future, he said.

“For the May 14 and 15 hearings [on public submissions to the plan], I’m hoping we need three days, because I want to hear from you all.”

Councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay said all councillors could agree about “the total inadequacy” of the funding system for councils from central government.

“This LTP for our council, and for a lot of councils across the country, highlights just how critical this situation is becoming for local government around New Zealand,” he said.

“Does the community want a higher rates increase or a lower level of service? There’s not really any in-between this time around.”

Councillor Glenda Brown said the council had to make tough calls to meet its promise of low rates.

“No decisions have been made in this consultation document and we are relying on the public to get on board and have their say,” Brown said.

“Engage where you can with the events [the council] will be having during the consultation process.”

Councillor Rob Vinsen said, like all elected members, there were things in the plan he liked and others he did not.

“What I do strongly support is more investment in core infrastructure – drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and roading,” he said.

“[That will cost] $10.5 million per annum – costing the ratepayer another $56 per annum – but it’s money well spent.”

The consultation document proposes an annual $1.05m increase in rates for core infrastructure for the next 10 years.

Vinsen said his biggest concern was the $55m provision for a hotel and carpark, with nothing set aside for emergency housing.

The consultation document said that would cost each property $30 a year from 2025/26 to 2038/39, “after which the returns from the hotel and carpark will start to offset rates”.

Councillor Ross Fallen said Whanganui was facing the largest rates increase for more than a generation, but the council was not immune to rising costs and it did not rate for profit.

“There should be lots – thousands, maybe – of submissions, because that tells us what [members of the public] think and feel,” he said.

“Do a written submission, even if it’s one line. Come and appear for five minutes. Do what you can and express your views.”

Councillor Kate Joblin said no stone had been left unturned during the LTP process.

The environmental scan, which was produced at the start of LTP planning, was top-quality, she said.

The scan assessed 59 topics and laid out potential trends and influences in the district.

“I think it‘s important that we remember this is an invitation to a discussion, and I really look forward to hearing from our community,” Joblin said.

Councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan said she was pleased there was a cut in the Sarjeant Gallery’s operational funding.

That is part of $1.5m in savings already identified by the council, including disestablishing the Youth Council and discontinuing the council’s digital strategy implementation resource.

“Everyone has to take some pain here,” Baker-Hogan said.

She said housing and homelessness were “pretty much silent” in the LTP and still constituted big issues.

Council chief executive David Langford said housing was not in the consultation document because the council was “actively pursuing it via other channels”.

He said a new proposal would be discussed at the council’s upcoming strategy and policy meeting.

“We had about $4m provisioned for housing [in the last LTP]; this proposal could see us pursuing a house-building programme over the next decade worth in excess of $300m.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multi-media 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 Whanganui District Council.