Auckland is drowning. Its infrastructure cannot keep up. It is our biggest city and according to a Stats NZ reports dated March 25, 2021 generated 37.9 per cent of our national GDP in 2020. The country needs a thriving, humming Auckland. It helps to pay our way more than any other place in New Zealand.
It is the biggest gateway to our country. Most visitors and returning New Zealanders pass through the place. Many stay, making their home in that beautiful city.
This of course is a symptom of a far bigger issue. New Zealand’s failing infrastructure. It’s everywhere. Those annoying potholes are just a symptom of so much more going wrong. Much of it is out of sight. Many cities and towns need updated waterworks. Expensive, but while none of us see the problem we soon know it is there, ask any Wellingtonian.
Early 20th century bridges are coming to the end of their lives, our own Dublin St bridge being a classic example. Built for the days of trams and horse-drawn vehicles, now coping with thousands of vehicles daily. Individual vehicle loads of more than 6000kg are now unable to use the bridge, meaning longer detours for trucks over the City Bridge through the CBD or over the Cobham Bridge, a long detour if the destination is Aramoho or parts north.
Thankfully Whanganui District Council has this on its long-term plan, $62.5 million spread over the next six years with Waka Kotahi funding 62 per cent of that. An indicative figure at this stage. Great to see. Well done our mayor and team.
Big government needs to take responsibility at times. The rating base of many places in New Zealand needing work can sometimes not be able to find those millions needed from their ratepayers other than using rate increases. Always an unpopular option for any mayor and council to choose, especially when an annual rates bill for a residence can be well in excess of $3000 annually, depending on where the residence is.
To many on fixed incomes that is a lot of money to find every year. The love shack on the hill left that figure behind years ago. Yes, there are rebate schemes which help for sure but many struggling to make ends meet do not quite reach the threshold.
Leaving funding of rebuilds to local government will result in rates that will either drive many out of home ownership or just add another barrier to home ownership in the first place. It will drive rents up. Landlords have to pay rates too.
There needs to be a cross-party initiative to put in place long-term committed funding to fix the infrastructure funding issues for Auckland and the rest of the country. We are outgrowing our 20th century roads, sewage, water delivery systems and transport options.
New Zealand’s population is over four times what it was in 1923 and climbing rapidly at present. Statistics NZ predict we will crack 6million any time from 2043. Other studies say as soon as 2038.
We need funding commitment for 30 years or more that cannot be tampered with every three years at the whim of politicians.
Some stuff is bigger than politics. One being to provide our country with the infrastructure to continue as a 21st-century First World country. Cycle lanes and speed bumps are great but getting the basics or water, potholes, roads, bridges, decent public buildings, transport systems either modernised or re-built should always be the priority. There is no longer any room for vanity projects supporting political views. Not with an ever-stretched ratepayers’ purse. Stuff just needs to get done.
I actually support cycle lanes and speed bumps but I would prefer a decent water system and public transport system, decent bridges to ride across on my mountain bike, better education of drivers and even stronger enforcement of traffic laws first.
That is without even talking about a bigger and more robust rail network, better state highways in many parts of the country and more power generation projects that actually happen.
Lastly Mayor Brown is right to protect his citizens from huge rate increases. He’s actually doing his job.
