Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellington City Council is on Tuesday set to lock in the list of projects pared back or rejected from the long-term plan, along with moves to hike parking fees and submit its view on the government's Treaty Principles Bill.
The council has been under the watchful eye of a Crown observer, installed by Local Government Minister Simeon Brown after councillors in October votednot to sell the council's 34 percent stake in Wellington Airport after all - a fundamental facet of the original plan.
The council has already had a six-hour meeting in late November amending the plan, cutting projects and pulling back spending to rebalance the budget.
On Tuesday they will vote to finalise the plan, though it goes out for public consultation in March/April 2025.
Councillors will make the final call once that community feedback has been considered, and the plan will then be audited before it takes effect in July next year.
What projects does the council plan to cut?
In the previous meeting, councillors ended up passing more than 20 amendments to the paper their staff initially put forward, identifying $558 million in savings.
These included cutting bus priority funding and parts of the cycleways programme - for which spending would be reduced by $40.7 million - and axing upgrades for facilities at Ōtari-Wilton's Bush.
Councillor Tony Randle tried to make an amendment that would have seen the Golden Mile project pared back, and the cost capped to $40 million - but that proposal failed to get over the line, leading Randle to accuse the council of not being able to make a hard decision.
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown at Wellington Railway Station. Photo: RNZ / Pretoria Gordon
Parking fees to rise in the suburbs
In May, a move to increase parking charges in a number of suburbs was voted down - but considering the need for more cash, it was now back on the table.
Charges between $2 to $5 an hour in Johnsonville, Miramar, Rongotai, Khandallah, Island Bay, Newlands, Tawa, Newtown and Kilbirnie, would earn the council between $581,000 and $1,730,000 a year.
But the meeting agenda noted the expected revenue was a conservative estimate, as drivers unwilling to pay would likely choose to park elsewhere - or at a time when fees don't apply, reduce the time they stayed or choose not to pay at all.
Rates
Current draft figures show a projected rates increase for 2025/26 of 15.9 percent, including the sludge levy.
Officers were working on ways to reduce that, and would be coming back to councillors in February with options to offset some of it, with the goal of keeping it to 12.8 percent.
"Earlier this year I committed to ensuring that Wellingtonians don't incur a further rate increase as we work through our long-term plan amendment," mayor Tory Whanau said.
"I am pleased officers will be looking into how we can mitigate this uptick."
Treaty Principles Bill submission
Alongside the long-term plan work, councillors will be asked to consider a submission on behalf of the council on the government's Treaty Principles Bill.
The submission strongly opposes the bill, saying it ignores rights for Māori.
But councillor Ray Chung said it was a distraction from their more pressing long-term plan work.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said his party would not support the bill past its first reading, which took place in mid-November, meaning the legislation is basically dead in the water.
Chung said it would be a waste of time submitting on it.
"We've got so many problems still with the long-term plan, and yet we're going into this? I just think it's a distraction at the moment because the government has said it's not getting past its first reading anyway."
He said he respected the rights of individual councillors to submit on the bill, but not using the resources of the council.
"Too many city and district councils and unitary authorities engage in issues that are, in my opinion, beyond the role of council - which is to ensure a functioning city while ensuring financial probity and which allows commerce to operate and grow the local economy."
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