ADRIAN SPARROW

Being on council for a first term has been a second-to-none experience, Angela McLeod says.

‘‘It’s proven an interesting study of human behaviour, it’s fascinating,’’ the long-time Whitemans Valley resident said.

‘‘I have always championed the community and I think the council has been able to do that as a team.’’

Mcleod has been central to some of the city’s highprofile action.

She was a heavy hitter in Upper Hutt’s lengthy antiamalgamation campaign and spoke at several rallies at Parliament and locally.

She was also one of the council majority who voted for the city’s controversial TPPA-free status.

‘‘I believe in collective responsibility and collective decision making,’’ she said. ‘‘When we make a decision we must all back it. ‘‘Throughout my life I have been involved with leading local, national and international civil society groups driving social change.

‘‘I’m seeking re-election so I can continue listening and advocating on the community’s behalf.’’

Howshould council deal with rates rises?

My contribution to the decision is based on what the community tells us through our formal consultation process and what the team contributes based on our own engagement with the community. This year our rates had to cover an increase in the costs of core business and two projects: a recycling depot and a full investigation in to a shared-use path in our rural space. Adrian Sparrow is standing for the city council for the third time in a row and with the same motivations.

The 56-year-old Logan St resident simply wants to contribute to a smarter council.

‘‘The council is a big business operation with $700 million in assets and a $33m take in rates annually.

‘‘We need people with the skills and experience for it to work effectively,’’ Sparrow said.

‘‘I understand the importance of knowing where each dollar goes and the need to get a good return on investment.

‘‘I’m not obsessed with any particular issue, I just think I’ve got the experience and skill to help raise the performance of the council overall,’’ the father of four said.

‘‘I have the ability to ask the right questions and, to be honest, I think that’s lacking on the current council.’’

Sparrow has had a lengthy career in risk management, governance and insurance and is currently Datacom’s risk and assurance group manager.

‘‘I also ran my own business for three years out of Upper Hutt.’’

Howshould council deal with rates rises?

No automatic rise. What is an acceptable rise in household spend? What you can afford and what’s worth buying. Same with the council; there should be no extra spending unless it’s been earned. So start by asking where you can save (reducing the rates) rather than thinking howto spend more of other peoples’ money. ‘‘It’s taken a while but we are seeing the results,’’ Dave Wheeler says of what he identifies as an improving Upper Hutt retailing area.

The director of Wheelers Shoes, a 47-year-old family business which relocated to a new Main St location this year, he is proud to have been part of a council which developed its sometimes controversial economic development stimulus package.

The $500,0000 a year policy is designed to attract investment and jobs to Upper Hutt with subsides for building fitouts and improvements.

‘‘We needed to do something. We’ve seen the cinemas come back we are now getting the development of the mall and overall we are really starting to see things happen now,’’ the 54-year-old Silverstream resident said.

In what he hopes will be a third council term Wheeler will look to advance the Cruikshank Tunnel Cycling Trail.

It is included in the city’s long-term planning and Wheeler will push for its fast-tracking.

He argues its planned linkage to established trails makes it both attractive in cost and of great potential economic advantage to Upper Hutt.

Howshould council deal with rates rises?

An acceptable rates rise I would have liked for the 2016-17 would have been under 4 per cent. But two additional projects were included in the annual plan, the recycling drop-off point and the multi-use pathway inMangaroa. These projects bumped the rise to 4.39 per cent. This is still under the 4.46 pr cent indicated in the second year of the long termplan 2015-25. Whilst engaging in community projects, I knowhowimportant it is to keep rates as lowas possible, it’s a fine balance. A lot of rates rises are associated with increases of infrastructural and operating costs.