Vince Cocurullo: Big city problems are small city problems, too

Our council’s goal is to minimise rates increases while still delivering essential services and prioritising key long-term strategies to keep our communities healthy and thriving, now and for tomorrow. Photo / Michael Cunningham

OPINION

As your Mayor, I’m proud of the work that we do to keep our city running smoothly and efficiently.

Many of these services run unnoticed in the background, from driving to work on local (potholed) roads, grabbing a snack from your favourite café, letting your kids play at the park or taking them for a swim at the aquatic centre or the beach, right down to throwing your rubbish in the bin. We are there when there are Civil Defence emergencies, and there when you visit the cemeteries, dog and skate parks.

Council is involved in more of your life than you might think.

Auckland Council announced a starting point of a 13 per cent rate rise for 2024 last week. Debt, depreciation and inflation have given their council no option but to cut costs, cut services or increase rates. The reality is that every council in New Zealand is facing the same challenges – big city problems are little city problems, too. We’re all living within the same economic landscape, and our communities all need access to the same basic services.

For many years our Council has assessed our debt level, trimmed costs, and then balanced that against our service levels and future planning. Our Council’s goal: to minimise rate increases while still delivering essential services and prioritising key long-term strategies to keep our communities healthy and thriving, now and for tomorrow. It has not been an easy task, and the last three years have made that even harder.

Cutting budgets from infrastructure projects has an impact on the growth and development of our district. This also impacts our local construction sector in Whangārei, reduces morale, and has a direct impact on how we feel (and how prospective businesses and investors feel) about Whangārei District as a progressive, attractive place to live, work and play.

If we make any more cuts to council services, we are at a point where we can threaten core areas such as maintaining our roads, removing rubbish and recycling, bylaw management and maintaining parks and walking tracks. These services have a direct connection to an economically strong and healthy community.

Northland’s roads are in bad shape and ever-increasing construction costs don’t help. We need to manage growth, be able to provide surrounding infrastructure for developments like the Whangārei base hospital and provide better access to parks and sports facilities.

We also have core infrastructure to maintain and renew, and we want Whangārei to be resilient in the face of future weather events. Can we afford to put off these needs? And if we do, what will be the impact on our next generation of ratepayers?

As a Northland community, we have always made our dollar stretch further than it should, but now we need to draw a line in the sand, work out what we are willing to invest in, and what sacrifices we are willing to live with.

It’s a delicate balancing act, and we’ll need your help to make these big decisions for our Long Term Plan 2024-2034.

You can read more about Whangarei District Council’s Long Term Plan at wdc.govt.nz/LTP