Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor intends to ask Horizons Regional Council for funding toward the city's bid for the New Zealand Cycling Centre of Excellence, raising the possibility of Wanganui ratepayers having to pay up for a facility the city missed out on.
But Wanganui Mayor Annette Main says the district would not have to contribute unless it agreed to.
Palmerston North's bid for the centre made the shortlist of three and Wanganui's did not, disappointing many.
Mr Naylor said he would not have asked the regional council to help fund the centre while Wanganui was in the running.
"We were aware there were two bids from this region and we didn't think it was appropriate to ask them to play favourites," he said.
He was unsure how much financial help Palmerston North City Council would ask for. It has to find $8.1 million if its bid is successful.
Mr Naylor said he saw the centre as a regional facility that would benefit the lower North Island if Palmerston North's bid succeeded. He imagined the velodrome in Wanganui would get more use if there was another in Palmerston North, and cycling grew in the region.
The thought of Wanganui ratepayers helping subsidise the Palmerston North bid through their Horizons rates met with opposition from some Wanganui District Councillors. One, Michael Laws, said Wanganui should resist subsidising the centre: "I have always opposed regional rating. It is inherently inequitable. It taxes people for amenities that they gain no benefit from."
Horizons councillor Bob Walker, who represents Wanganui at a regional level, was also opposed.
He was elected under a Rates Freeze banner and promised a fight if Horizons even thought of supporting Palmerston North's request for regional funding.
He hoped Horizons' councillors would reflect on the huge cuts made in operational costs to keep the council functioning and not take on any extra burden for ratepayers.
Mr Walker and Mr Laws believed Ms Main had intended to ask Horizons to help fund the centre if the River City bid was successful. But she said they had got the wrong impression. Her visit to Horizons, and her promise to come back to them if the Wanganui bid was successful, was only to tell them Wanganui people might have an additional rates burden.
"The intention of our delegation was to say the centre was a significant project for Wanganui and would impact on Wanganui ratepayers' ability to pay for other major projects."
She had no intention of asking Horizons for money if Wanganui's bid was successful.
Ms Main said Wanganui ratepayers would not help fund Palmerston North's centre unless they agreed to.
"What Michael forgets is that the regional council has a policy in place for regional funding like that. It requires the districts targeted for that funding to agree."
Wanganui District Councillor Ray Stevens said he hoped Horizons ratepayers would be consulted before they were asked to put money into the centre.
His fellow councillor, Nicki Higgie, said she felt strongly that Wanganui ratepayers should not have to help pay for it.
Bike bid lost but we may still pay
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