Secret cinema deal heartless in face of cuts
In politics, perception can quickly become reality — as illustrated in Wellington this past week as tearful residents urged councillors to let their libraries and swimming pools alone. Wellington City Council finalised its draft 10-year budget on Thursday, desperately seeking savings so more money can be used to fix leaking pipes.
The mean penny-pinching was bleak, proposing to cut back opening hours for swimming pools and libraries for savings of as little as $300,000. Luckily, residents spoke up, a “public outcry” heard by Mayor Tory Whanau who scrapped the options.
Councillor Ben McNulty apologised to swim clubs for ever proposing such cuts. “For us to get hundreds of emails, for people to be up overnight, for people to be worried about their jobs when the political will to do so was never there, was a failure of all of us collectively around this table.
“I do want to say sorry and I really am disappointed that we put that out there when it really was never ever up for serious consideration.”
As it never ever should have been. If a council can’t protect core services like swimming pools and libraries then why bother having one?
And why focus on tiny, cruel savings, when money is being poured freely into the bottomless pit that is the Town Hall (it could cost as much as $329 million to earthquake-strengthen and revamp it), and $32m is reportedly being offered to buy the land under the privately owned Reading Cinema?
The derelict cinema complex on Courtenay Place has been closed since 2019 after an earthquake risk was discovered. It has become a symbol of the tired state of the once-bustling party strip, labelled a “big black hole” by hospitality leaders.
It’s understood the deal, discussed only in publicexcluded meetings, would ensure the multimillionaire owners use ratepayers’ money to finally strengthen the building so it can reopen. But ratepayers can’t really be sure what their money will be used for as it’s all kept secret from them.
Last June, Whanau hinted at news on Reading “soon”, describing it as “a very exciting thing”.
What followed was a tumultuous, expensive circus as councillors were accused of leaking commercially sensitive information about the deal, resulting in a $43,000 Code of Conduct inquiry. Ratepayers are still in the dark about the deal. Jump forward to today and it’s no secret the city desperately needs to rejig spending priorities as 44 per cent of its drinking water is lost through leaks.
But who would have expected libraries and pools to be offered up as sacrificial lambs?
Why should Wellington ratepayers be denied basic services to ensure the mayor gets an “exciting” development under way? A development the private owners should be doing themselves if they really cared about the city.
The mayor heard the outcry but the damage was done. The perception is a council that favours largescale “vanity projects” over basic services.
And while using residents’ money to revitalise Courtenay Place may have won public support in 2023, it’s a much harder sell when it comes at the cost of community facilities and vital water fixes.
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