Sorry we stressed you out but let’s keep talking

Conversations about the council are generally framed at one end with an unending list of requests for new infrastructure or services.

At the other end of the spectrum is resentment at being forced to pay rates, a flawed property tax averaging $45-$50 a week, rising faster than the rate of inflation.

We developed a draft 10-year plan aimed at turning our district into a lifestyle capital and outlined an investment of $2.3 billion to meet the growing needs of our community over the next decade.

But this year we also asked some big questions.

■ How do we fund the future?

■ What are our choices?

■ What about the choices we haven’t previously considered – or considered and dismissed?

This year’s draft 10-year plan was different; we set out to challenge old paradigms and lateral thinking to raise extra funding for big projects.

We asked for a response from our community and we certainly got one. Many have been outraged or aggrieved that we would even suggest selling public reserve land to fund a stadium or pool upgrade, or to cash in our perpetual investment fund to pay for big projects. Many found these ideas unpalatable, some were surprised they hadn’t been suggested earlier.

People who had never before considered their ability to influence the council’s decisions made the effort.

Some common themes came through many of the submissions:

■ Why bother? You never listen;

■ Why bother? You just waste our money;

■ Why bother? You don’t reflect the views of the people;

■ Why bother? This council is not the same as this community.

To summarise, in your feedback you told us:

■ We care about our environment and want to see investments in quality water and wastewater infrastructure to protect our way of lifes, reducing our impact on our land, rivers and sea;

■ We want to reduce the waste we produce by working together to invest in and change our behaviour;

■ We love our reserves, our green spaces; they are critical to our way of life and we do not want to give them up;

■ Our perpetual investment fund is for current and future generations and shouldn’t be used for shortterm gains.

Your views were diverse but the themes were mostly not around money but around commitment to the future; that in Aotearoa we value our environment hugely.

That we want quality investments in sustainable infrastructure for current and future generations.

The submissions demanded value for our rates but also reflected that for many of us in Taranaki, things do not all boil down to money. However, we are acutely aware a proportion of our community are struggling financially.

We value our sense of community, we value our environment and we value our open spaces, green belts, parks and reserves. Recreation forms part of our core identity as New Zealanders.

We value our lifestyle, value our culture, cherish our children and want to lay foundations for a bright future for them.

We sparked a real conversation, one that tapped into the essence of what it means to live here, a conversation that engaged our mainstream to participate and clearly tell us what our people really care about.

Vigorous debate is healthy, and together we make better decisions. I accept our approach could have been better, and for those of you who were stressed, confused or angered by our draft plans, please accept my sincerest apologies. We wanted to start a big conversation but we never wanted to cause anxiety or stress.

But we did and for that I am truly sorry.

And we know some of you don’t trust us and many don’t believe we listen but I want to assure you this council is evolving.

You told us you wanted to see your ideas reflected in our decisions, so please do not stop the conversation now – because if we really want to move this community forward the historic barriers between council and community have to be broken.

The recommendation to remove all reference to the sale of Peringa Park from the long-term plan is for the entire council to consider, then debate, and make the final decision on Wednesday, June 6.

Neil Holdom is the mayor of New Plymouth

‘‘We sparked a real conversation, one that tapped into the essence of what it means to live here.’’