‘Asset recycling’ on Foster’s agenda
Wellington’s mayor elect has been floating the idea of selling the council’s share in the city’s airport.
Andy Foster, who is one of two council-appointed directors on a board of six, has held one-on-one meetings with Wellington City’s new councillors since last weekend’s election results.
One of the topics on the agenda was the idea of Wellington City Council divesting its 34 per cent shareholding in Wellington Airport.
Foster said the idea of selling the council’s stake in the airport was nothing more than an ‘‘early conversation’’ after council management asked him to address the issue of ‘‘asset recycling’’.
Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons has confirmed she and other councillors had one-on-one meetings with Foster after the election, in which he raised the idea.
Fitzsimons was opposed to the move, saying privatisation of a key piece of Wellington infrastructure was not the answer.
Foster was also considering removing funding the airport runway extension from the long-term plan, which Fitzsimons said was a political stunt.
The money was not due to be spent for seven years – after multiple reiterations of the plan – meaning it was nothing more than an easy political win with no basis in actual spending but businesses needed certainty.
Foster argued that he had campaigned on removing funding from the long-term plan and the move was crucial to keep rates rises to a reasonable level.
Councillor Laurie Foon said she had a ‘‘very early preliminary discussion’’ with Foster. ‘‘There was a brief discussion about it in an informal meeting which I had with Andy Foster, after winning the election, which touched on the airport and shares very briefly.’’
She wasn’t going to make a call either way. ‘‘While I personally may think that’s something to look at for funds to be invested elsewhere, I’m going to have to understand the full impact of what something like that would be for the city.’’ ‘‘He framed it as selling assets to buy other assets,’’ said councillor Rebecca Matthews, who met Foster at the start of last week. ‘‘It’s what I would call ‘asset sales’. Basically, I am against any asset sales.’’
Matthews understood Foster was ticking off where people stood but she wasn’t confident he was going about it the right way. ‘‘This council hasn’t even met yet and on my first day, before I was even given my induction, I was given this list of things. We need a little bit of time to get our feet under the table as a council.’’
Councillor Jenny Condie said she had not discussed it with Foster but she backed a sale of airport shares. ‘‘I’m not sure it’s an asset that the council really need to own. I think we should recycle that capital in to something more useful. I’d like to see it spent on mass transit, personally.’’
Councillor Tamatha Paul said she had not been a party to discussion about the airport shares. ‘‘Based on feedback from my campaign period, and speaking to people in my ward, I’d say that I’m leaning towards retaining it.’’
Wellington Airport chairman Tim Brown said any sale of council’s shareholding was a decision for the council to make.