"We obviously have some big decisions to make," says Whanganui district councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan. Photo / Bevan Conley
"We obviously have some big decisions to make," says Whanganui district councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan. Photo / Bevan Conley
Philippa Baker-Hogan is a triple world rowing champion, double Olympian and seventh-term Whanganui district councillor.
OPINION
I write this as the Government releases Budget 2024, highlighting what it calls “tax relief for hard-working Kiwis”, investment in frontline services and reduction in wasteful Government spending, against what the Opposition calls the “Budget of broken promises”.
Whichever side of the fence you sit on, the cost-of-living challenges for everyday Kiwis and social unrest are unlikely to be resolved quickly but we still have a lot to be thankful for when looking offshore towards the likes of Ukraine and Palestine and need to value and protect our relative peace.
As a councillor, I am grateful to the more than 1600 submitters and 120 people/organisations who found the time to speak to us on our Long-Term Plan (LTP) 2024-34. To be honest, many of us are still making our way through the submissions before deliberation (decision) meetings this week but many prompted further investigation for understanding, particularly around issues like development contributions.
We obviously have some big decisions to make and any changes from our draft LTP of an average 10.6 per cent rate increase, with an average rate of $3838 or $74 a week, will either lower (less service/activity) or raise the average rate. I’m not speaking out of turn to say our hotel and car park development, with its $55 million preferred Option 1, went down like a ton of bricks, particularly with the council deciding to spend nearly $4m to buy central properties for the possible hotel midway through the consultation process.
The Whanganui District Council building, in Guyton St, Whanganui, where Long-Term Plan decisions will be made this week.
In my opinion, it would probably be a brave council that would push on with leading the hotel development, after the barrage of feedback from our community. With issues like the proposed $200,000 reduction in the Sarjeant Gallery (SG) operating budget for 2024 and possible door charges being labelled anything from “prudent” to “poppycock”, we have a swag of opinions and commentary on everything from the hotel, SG, proposed reductions in some library services and closure of Whanganui East Pool, Repertory Theatre, aviary and hanging baskets.
Those have probably received the most airtime but major proposed investments in the Opera House (Preferred Option 3, $17.8m), marae development ($3.5m 2028-34), Wanganui Surf Lifesaving Service ($1m contribution), Pākaitore Reserve paving and crossing (preferred $830,000) and Rapanui Road Trail (preferred $2.4m) are all singularly substantive decisions and will all have a big bearing on rates and debt funding for years to come.
As if that wasn’t enough, it was publicly noted recently that NZICPA, our flight school, has myriad issues to still work through to get anywhere near paying a dividend to our ratepayers, with student numbers below projections, some diesel planes being grounded for safety reasons and accommodation premises underused. The new holdings committee, chaired by Paul Bayley, and the council have a lot to consider with this enterprise.
Last but not least, our port project, Te Puwaha, is a significant investment and, while tracking along well, it needs strong governance to keep realising all the benefits it will need to ensure the multimillion-dollar investment benefits Whanganui in years and generations to come.
Finally, on quite another matter, on behalf of NZ Rowing, I presented NZ’s oldest Olympian, Reg Douglas, with a new red coat pocket (given to every rower who wins a Premier NZ Championship) last week, as 94-year-old Reg’s old one is a bit “mothballed”.
It has been a real highlight and pleasure to spend time with Reg and his wife Alison over the past year and he is amazingly sharp in mind and body. Reg and Alison are moving to the South Island this week to live closer to family and the Whanganui rowing fraternity and friends will miss them dearly but wish them well and await an invite to Reg’s 100th!
