Tauranga City Council Commissioner Bill Wasley. Photo / File
Tauranga City Council Commissioner Bill Wasley. Photo / File
Government ministers are expected to attend an upcoming meeting to appoint a new SmartGrowth chairperson after Bill Wasley left the post to become a Tauranga City Council commissioner.
The SmartGrowth Leadership Group Committee, the Three Waters issue, and a $2 million budget blow-out to fix a Waihi Beach creek wereamong items discussed at a Western Bay of Plenty District Council meeting yesterday.
Western Bay mayor Garry Webber told the meeting he will chair the April 22 SmartGrowth meeting for about five minutes until the new independent chairperson is appointed.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor Garry Webber. Photo / File
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Associate Minister of Finance and Housing Minister Megan Woods were also expected at the meeting, Webber said.
Webber also referred to the Government's proposed Three-Waters restructure and proposed replacement of the RMA (Resource Management Act).
The reforms would shift ownership and management for the country's current 78 council-owned drinking, wastewater and stormwater services to fewer larger entities.
Webber said the more people dug into the matter, the more difficult it became to deliver what was proposed. Delivery costs seemed to be escalating.
Margaret Murray-Benge said discussions by central government officials over the proposed reforms seemed to be dominated by the "Wellington problem".
Murray-Benge said she was concerned that local communities' views may be lost when the final decision was made and the delivery costs were "hideously expensive".
Webber said it was not just Wellington City Council but a number of other councils also had problems in terms of their water services and maintenance programme requirements.
This included Hamilton, Auckland, Dunedin, Hawke's Bay and Thames Coromandel, which had a significant problem compared to other councils around the country.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council head office in Barkes Corner. Photo / File
Webber said underfunding by some of the councils over many years and councils no longer having in-house works departments had only added to the problem.
"A lot of water has gone under the bridge over the years."
No matter what happened, local councils would still play a vital role in setting future development strategies when it came to these services and asset management, he said.
Councillors unanimously voted to adopt a recommendation by the council's performance and monitoring committee to increase the Two Mile Creek Bank Protection Works budget from $4m to $5,975,000 subject to resolving land entry agreements.
The Two Mile Creek Bank Protection Works at Waihi Beach was approved for tender late last year, but resulted in tenders being received which exceeded the original budget.
The budget increase will be funded via a transfer from other stormwater projects and the construction period will be over the 2020/2021 and 2022/2023 financial years.
The project once completed will fix a creek footprint in terms of width and alignment, and property owners will have protection from further risk of erosion of their lands.
Also, the council will have a secured pathway for long-term management of stormwater from the upper catchment area through to the beach outlet.
This includes a potential diversion from the Maranui Estate stormwater pond.
The council also voted to give deputy mayor John Scrimgeour, councillors Mark Dean and James Denyer plus chief executive Miriam Taris the powers to decide applications to the district's Community Matching Fund.
Applications for the contestable fund for grants for community projects open on April 19 and this financial year there will be $140,000 available.
