Productive year for council

Our council has had a very productive year in 2012.

I told a gathering of business and community leaders in December that our long term plan through to 2022 has a balanced work load that includes significant infrastructure work, improvements to our  parks, and a commitment to specific projects that will enhance our city.

Our average rate rise for this year is among the lowest in New Zealand and we received a very favourable financial rating which commended the council on its management of finances and debt.

During the course of this year, we have been actively engaged in making provisions for earthquake strengthening of the council administration buildings. Council has made a decision that will see the heritage aspects of the building being retained.

This has been a very thorough and robust process, as you would expect from a prudent council like ours. I would like to acknowledge the work of my deputy David Bassett and Crs Roger Styles and Chris Milne who have worked closely with our officers and consulting engineers to come up with options considered by council.

Council has also shown leadership at a national level with the passage of the Hutt City Council (Graffiti Removal) Bill which passed into law in September of this year. I personally have a strong commitment to control of graffiti vandalism and I was in the House at all stages of the Bill including the Select Committee submissions.

We have received a number of inquiries from other local authorities throughout New Zealand seeking information about how they too, could implement such a Bill. I would like to publicly thank Hutt South MP Trevor Mallard for his work in shepherding the Bill through the House.

The hard work of council is done at the committee level. That is where issues are talked through in detail and arguments for and against are the most robust.

My Chairs of Committees have done a good job in managing these issues and ensuring the voice of the community was kept to the fore in considering the best recommendations for the good of the city.

So I would like to express a universal thank you to my chairs and our councillors and officers who serve on the committees.

This year seemed to be a year of consultation with our community. The annual plan and the long term plan consultation was followed by the Representation Review of community boards, many policy and town planning issues were consulted the community, and finally the Local Government Reform was put out to public discussion. Supercity or not will be a focus for our community and council for a while to come.

But all of these processes in terms of local democracy, are important processes that must be upheld.

In the past few months, councillors have been working on an urban growth strategy for the city. We are excited about the future and what it holds for us all as a community.

Such intensification will mean additional pressure to provide additional facilities and services including recreational opportunities for inner city residents.

We are fortunate to have a number of keystone businesses which generate a lot of activity, many of them in science and technology. Government has committed to Lower Hutt as a science innovation centre by deciding to locate one of three Callaghan Innovation centres here. Technology Valley is the way to move our city forward.

There have been other successes in encouraging business to stay within Lower Hutt. We are also actively promoting a business stimulus package to encourage business to expand their operations within Lower Hutt.

We are making good progress.

This year has been an intense year, a challenging year, a year of hard work and positive results.