Greater Wellington

arts facility for the region, and the Wainuiwhenua project, covering community plans for surplus Transmission Gully land in Paeka¯ ka¯ riki, were also in the pipeline.

Council staff would discuss plans for the Waikanae Library, which was closed after the discovery of toxic mould, with the Waikanae Community Board in the coming weeks.

‘‘There’s an opportunity to tie that in with the Mahara Gallery project for it to be a community hub. We know the library is the heartbeat of that community and we have a serviceable temporary facility, but we need to get going on providing a proper library for the longer term.’’

There was plenty ahead for the council and community to look forward to, particularly with the opening of the district’s performing arts centre in February. The council had chipped in about $1.6 million towards the project and when finished it would be a major drawcard for the district.

– Virginia Fallon

Under new chairman Daran Ponter, the regional council has made a notable effort to put a line under the bus network problems created in July 2018, and put other areas such as climate change at the forefront of public attention.

Ponter quickly established a climate committee, appointing Green Party member Thomas

Nash to run it, and more recently appointed a climate specialist to advise the council.

The council has also lobbied the Government on freshwater reforms, commissioned a report by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) outlining the region’s climate future, and even won an award for improving the state of Mangatarere Stream.

‘‘People might know the regional council more recently for public transport, but we are the environmental protection authority, the river control authority, the park ranger, the pest management board, the harbour master, and the owner of the Port of Wellington,’’ Ponter said.

Still, the council knows it cannot completely run from its commuter problems, and published a report late last year detailing almost 30 changes it needs to implement to fix Wellington City’s bus network over the next three years, costing $2.5 million. It later revealed, following an Official Information Act request, that the report cost $878,000 to put together.

But things look to be on the up, with a recent survey finding commuter satisfaction was improving. In addition, NZ Bus will reintroduce on January 26 the 21 daily services it suspended in February last year because of a driver shortage, and the first of the changes recommended in the bus network report will come into effect at the same time.

The council has also put together a business case requesting more than $400m from central government to help acquire 15 new hybrid trains and upgrade the region’s rail infrastructure.

– Damian George

Hawke’s Bay

The first 100 days under new Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise have seen some key developments.

The standout is December’s ambitious business case for a new $77.5 million national aquarium to replace the existing aquarium, much of which needs to be demolished.

Napier City Council also voted last month to tender the demolition of its old, earthquakeprone building, while chief executive Wayne Jack and other senior staff were probably relieved when an audit cleared them of any wrongdoing over the monitoring of councillors’ personal Facebook pages.

Other achievements include the introduction of meeting livestreaming, a review of the code of conduct and standing orders, the introduction of weekly ‘‘Town Huddle’’ so people can speak directly with Wise, the development of a shortlist for a new library site, and the completion of the first steps into a review of whether the city’s water supply could become chlorine-free.

The lead-up to the Hastings election was enlivened by leaked news that the council was considering building a central city attraction promoting safe drinking water use.

It would be built on top of an 18-metre-tall reservoir and would feature interactive displays and a viewing platform.

Re-elected mayor Sandra Hazlehurst was livid at the leak and ordered an investigation, which is expected to be completed later this month. The plan, meanwhile, was shelved.

The council last month agreed to put $200,000 toward a $16m Hawke’s Bay food innovation hub, which will be largely funded by the Provincial Growth Fund ($12m). Other good news was the opening of a $1.7m playground at Cornwall Park.

– Marty Sharpe

Wairarapa

Greg Lang has spent his first 100 days as Carterton mayor getting a ‘‘real cohesive team together’’, likening the process to building a race car: ‘‘You get that race car into shape, and then you take it onto the track.’’

He cited Carterton District Council’s decision to follow through with residents’ choice for a heritage 1960s design for its clocktower as one of his ‘‘quick wins’’, after the voting process became muddied when unauthorised options were printed in a local newsletter.

He was working to establish a taskforce to improve Carterton’s central business district, which ‘‘needs a huge amount of work’’, particularly with the quakeprone buildings legislation coming into force in July 2021.

South Wairarapa Mayor Alex Beijen believes he has made inroads into making his district council more transparent to communities.

Driven to cut the number of committees and give community boards more responsibility, Beijen said the early objective had been achieved, although equipment to allow meetings to be livestreamed had still not been installed.

The council had also made early moves in reviewing the district’s waste and drinking water infrastructure.

Experienced Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson has declared 2020 a ‘‘year of action’’ but her latest term began with community consultation over the future of the town hall, which closed in 2016 due to seismic issues.

‘‘One of the elected members’ first decisions was to consult . . . about what people wanted in terms of a shared facility, how much they would be prepared to pay, and what elements of the old building should be retained, if any,’’ Patterson said. About 600 responses had been received – one of the largest responses in the council’s history.

Like South Wairarapa, Masterton District Council had also decided to reduce the number of its committees.

Future-proofing Wairarapa’s water supply against climate change took a big step forward recently, with news of a $7.1 million loan from the Provincial Growth Fund being granted to investigate establishing a storage facility near Masterton.

– Katarina Williams