A busy week in the electorate with lots to talk about - Tim Costley

Tim Costley met with Simeon Brown and Mayor Bernie Wanden in Levin last week.

Opinion

THREE KEY FACTS:

• Parliament sat for just two hours on Tuesday last week, to mark the death of Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, the seventh Māori king, who passed away at age 69 on August 29.
• The NZ Transport Agency has approved an increase in the speed limit on 24.5km of the Kāpiti Expressway. The new speed limit of 110km/h will apply to the stretch of road north of Poplar Ave/Raumati interchange to south of the Ōtaki northern interchange.
• Horowhenua is currently the 10th fastest-growing district in the country.

Tim Costley is the MP for Ōtaki

OPINION

It’s been another busy week, but uniquely I actually made it home every night last week (though after dinner on four nights). But I think it’s a good thing because it meant I had seven days in a row in our community.

This week in Parliament, in a very rare occurrence, Parliament only sat for two hours on Tuesday to mark the sad passing of Kīngi Tūheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII, the Māori king. I acknowledge the contributions of Kīngi Tūheitia, particularly in his role as patron of Te Matatini and Te Kōhanga Reo amongst other kaupapa.

We had what I would call two significant visits in our region last week.

On Tuesday Simeon Brown, Minister for Transport, Energy, and Local Government, visited our region. He announced that from November the speed on the expressway would increase to 110km/hr from Ōtaki down to Raumati. After the campaign we ran earlier this year, and so many of you signed, I think this was a great result and shows we have a strong voice in Parliament.

Together, the minister and I visited the Waikanae Water Treatment plant, looked at the amazing river recharge scheme there (I think we have some very clever people who work there), and spoke with council staff on a range of issues, along with deputy mayor Lawrence Kirby, and CEO Darren Edwards.

We visited Horowhenua and checked out the Electra substation with CEO Geoff Douch and his team of engineers. We discussed the challenges and opportunities that growth brings, and what that means for energy in our region, particularly in new housing areas. And I can now explain why some transformers are on the ground and some up power poles.

Finally, we spent time with Horowhenua mayor Bernie Wanden and CEO Monique Davidson. We talked about key issues for the region like transport, water, and developing new housing. I’ve been advocating strongly for our region and Brown reflected this in speaking of what our Government is doing here, not just in terms of a new expressway and increased passenger rail.

On Wednesday we had Minster of Education (and Immigration) Erica Stanford come and meet with all our local principals. We spoke about our Government’s plan to lift achievement, specifically the maths curriculum refresh, and also the challenges schools have faced for years around funding learning support. One principal emailed me afterwards saying “I came away feeling very positive that we have passionate leaders who are there to help us fight the fight”.

This week I’m holding an event promoting our local food and beverage sector, and you can read all about that in next week’s paper.