Huntly loses, says resident

Victoria Kemp feels Huntly has been short-changed in Waikato District Council’s Long Term Plan.

The town has been allocated

$600,000 for capital projects over the next 10 years while Nga¯ruawa¯hia gets $4 million, Tuakau/ Pokeno more than $20m and Te Kauwhata over $70m.

But Mayor Allan Sanson said more money is being spent in Huntly than the LTP suggests. Kemp disagreed.

‘‘It might be an error on council’s part for not being clear,’’ she said. ‘‘But, it seems a lot of money is going to areas that are growing, but not to places where people are living and wanting to be a part of the thriving and connected communities council want.’’

Huntly has been allocated

$600,000 for its resource recovery centre. Kemp would like to see money spent on the Huntly War Memorial Hall to turn it into a multi-purpose facility.

The main street also needs updating, a boundary needs to be erected at Fairfield Reserve to stop motorbikes tearing it up, and if that happened, a facility for people to use their bikes away from residents was needed, Kemp said.

Huntly has one of the biggest populations in the Waikato District, she said.

‘‘A lot of rates come from Huntly. I understand Tuakau, Pokeno and Te Kauwhata are growing areas, but council still needs to look after the other communities in the district.’’

The key reason for different levels of capital spending is because council has to support different levels of growth, Sanson said.

‘‘The majority of this growth is funded by development contributions, which are paid by those who are developing land for residential and commercial building purposes.

‘‘That’s why the numbers in our LTP look large for our fastest growing communities in the north, such as Te Kauwhata, because council has to extend and build the mainline infrastructure for new developments to connect to.’’

The main piece of new capital investment proposed for Huntly is the resource recovery centre, however there has been and will be much more money and effort spent on improvements for Huntly, Sanson said.

Council has already set aside $1.6 million for the Huntly wastewater treatment plant upgrade, built a new water reservoir for the town and looked into securing new technology to clean Huntly’s water pipes to stop the brown water issues, he said.

‘‘We are also working hard to secure funding from other sources for improving infrastructure for the town.’’

Outside of the LTP, there are also some big ticket changes coming, Sanson said.

‘‘These include the government’s $20 million commitment to invest in commuter rail between Hamilton, Auckland and Tauranga, with likely stops in Huntly and Tuakau.’’

Rates are mainly used for the work council has to do every day to maintain and operate existing infrastructure, like roading, parks and facilities and water services, Sanson said.

Rates also provide council services such as libraries, refuse and recycling services, district planning, inspecting food and licensed premises and animal control, he said.

‘‘Huntly ratepayers can be assured that their rates are continuing to be used for the services the council supplies for them.’’

The Long Term Plan is out for consultation until April 16.