Wellington Regional Leadership Committee's deputy chairperson Daran Ponter. Photo: Greater Wellington
The Wellington Regional Leadership Committee says it was a choice not to apply for one of the government's regional deals, whilst the Prime Minister called it "lame-o" that they did not put forward a plan before the government's deadline.
The Post reported on Monday Wellington would miss out on a deal, because mayors did not make an application after being invited to apply.
The government said at the time it would not be putting money on the table as part of the deals, which would instead increase access to funding and financing tools.
A letter sent to Minister Simon Watts from committee chairperson Darrin Apanui and deputy chairperson Daran Ponter, dated 21 February, said despite originally signaling it was keen to submit an application, "with further consideration [the committee has] concluded that we will not be ready to submit a proposal by this date".
On Tuesday, Ponter told RNZ the committee came to the conclusion they needed more time, as it did not want to rush through a proposal.
A regional deal was a "serious matter," Ponter said, "and it really shouldn't be truncated down into this sort of short form, form filling-type proposition that's been put in front of us by the Department of Internal Affairs."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called the fact the Wellington region had not put forward a city or regional deal "lame".
"Well it's pretty lame-o is my view of it.
"Here we have a government doing everything it can to make sure that we attract capital to this country which has been a problem for a long period of time and you can't even get Wellington councils to submit a regional or a city deal."
Luxon said it was a real disappointment to the ratepayers of Wellington.
"This is a great part of the country and yet their leaders at a local government level can't come together on a regional deal."
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said Wellington councils do need to "get their act together".
"They need to be showing that they can work together, they need to be dealing with the issues facing the region as a whole."
Hipkins said if Wellington councils do not work constructively together the region will be left behind.
Ponter said he thought it was unlikely Wellington would be left out of the government's plans entirely, despite its lack of application.
"All of our intelligence tells us that the decisions around which regions are advanced through this process have largely already been made... at the Beehive."
He said the committee expected to take another three to four months to put together a more comprehensive proposal which would help the region deal with significant population growth, ageing infrastructure, climate change and diversifying industry.
Ponter estimated there was already about $10-15 billion worth of projects in the pipeline for Wellington, including the new Ōtaki to north of Levin highway, a new ferry terminal, Mount Victoria and Terrace tunnels, State Highway 58 upgrades and new trains.
With no money on offer for projects, Ponter said rearranging the work programme as part of the regional deal would not be beneficial.
"At that point, all you're doing is just moving deck chairs around, rather than making a new investment."
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