My pledge to the people of Lower Hutt is to ensure their voice is heard in any discussion on local government reform for the Wellington region.
Residents are clearly telling us No to a Super City.
I encourage residents to realise that the time is now to speak out against the Super City. A single proposal with two variations is being touted around the Hutt Valley. It is a sales pitch designed to win over Lower Hutt residents who have already said they do not want a Super City.
Our residents have told us they want to keep decision making local and to have an input through an open door to their councillors and council officers. They do not wish to queue up at a central city office to talk to a faceless bureaucrat working for a Super City.
We are well-run and financially sound and 84 per cent of our population is happy with the way their money is being spent. Our council has had the lowest rate increases across the country for the past decade and we are driving down our debt while maintaining spending on infrastructure.
We are also encouraging business to get established in Lower Hutt.
There is more than $200 million of development money poised for investment in Lower Hutt projects and businesses are being attracted by the generous Hutt City Council business stimulus package.
The city is building on a firm foundation of science and technology enterprises including 800 science-based businesses located in Lower Hutt. At its heart is the Callaghan Innovation centre located at Gracefield in Lower Hutt. This is a solid foundation for our growth.
Jobs for our young people living here in Lower Hutt will be created by business.
This is a major issue and I am acutely aware of the need to promote the benefits of our city in attracting business growth. That is why we have appointed specialist individuals focusing on building business relationships and liaising with investors to attract them to our city.
We are also promoting a new urban growth strategy to enable growth. The target is to build between 5000 and 7500 new homes in Lower Hutt over the next 20 years. If we are going to attract business to the city, there needs to be accommodation to cater for young families. There will also be a demand to build smaller housing units for older people and those living in one and two person households.
My concern for the people of Lower Hutt is that the strong stimulus being created through our focused effort could be undermined by local government reform. A Super City is being promoted by a working party comprising three of the eight local councils in the Wellington region. The Auckland experience, so far, is that businesses have not experienced any benefit in the past three years since Auckland became one city.
Any suggestions a Super City will suddenly provide a economic windfall and herald new prosperity and new jobs are wildly mistaken. We are the same as everyone else who experienced economic difficulties in recent years and a super council sitting in Wellington will not resolve that issue
My belief is that the voice of the community should be heard in this discussion and that the working party has failed the people of Lower Hutt by refusing to put forward alternatives to Super City options. The basic support in Lower Hutt is for retention of our existing boundaries with more shared services.
In the event there has to be some change, the preferred Lower Hutt option is for a united Hutt Valley as part of three unitary councils for the Wellington region.
A step toward a Super City for Wellington would divert our attention from the real issues facing the people of our city and our region. Hutt City Council remains committed to working for the best interests of our residents now and in the future.
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