NP mayor wants water meters
If New Plymouth’s mayor gets his way the district will get water meters, and work to install them will start this year.
There would also be $40 million of ratepayer money put towards a sports hub, but not for another five years.
Following three-and-a-half days of hearing from submitters to the council’s 10-year plan, New Plymouth district councillors will decide on Wednesday what will and won’t be included in NPDC’s $3 billion budget.
If approved in its current form, the plan could see rates rises of 12 per cent from July, and an average of six per cent for the following nine years.
Water meters have been the most controversial topic, but in a 26-page missive to councillors, Neil Holdom recommends their approval, with the proviso of including representatives for low income, fixed income and vulnerable households when costs are discussed.
He also wants the council to commit to a hardship fund to reduce water charges for those who need it should the $18 million roll-out go ahead.
Holdom also recommends the $140m option put to residents for fixing the district’s ailing water network, as well as $20m to improve Waitara’s stormwater system.
Money for a sports hub — the site of which has yet to be determined despite a plan for New Plymouth Raceway championed by Sport Taranaki – would rely on the project ‘‘broadening its focus to include wellbeing’’, Holdom writes.
‘‘The project could more accurately be refined to a multipurpose hub catering for indoor sports codes, several outdoor codes and a variety of recreational activities, both planned and unplanned.
‘‘It must also be a centre for wellbeing and cultural activities linked to the Western Institute of Technology (WITT).’’
He is also supporting extending the Coastal Walkway from Bell Block to Waitara, and further developing the Taranaki Traverse Mountain to Sea track, with both projects costing a total of $36 million.
The mayor also advocates spending $1m over the 10 years to investigate reducing carbon emissions from the council’s fleet of vehicles rather than simply buying electric cars – however, these could still be an option.
Holdom has also included several suggestions related to ideas raised at the hearing.
These include $1.2m over three years for the four New Plymouth district community boards to spend on projects, excluding roads, costing up to $25,000 and without the need for council approval.
He also supports $425,000 for a long-awaited pedestrian crossing on State Highway 3 in Inglewood in the coming financial year.
In New Plymouth, the mayor proposes a three-year parking trial that would see paid parking extended until 7pm Monday-Saturday.
However, the first hour of parking would be free.
He also suggested any unallocated council budget surplus be put towards tackling the housing crisis.
All of these ideas will be debated on Wednesday.
In his report, the mayor waxes lyrical about the state of the world, including ‘‘the four horsemen of the apocalypse: Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple’’ which have ‘‘commandeered so much of our attention our children now start twitching when deprived of their devices, and 80 per cent of adults are worse’’.
‘‘We simply surge forward, collectively driven by instinct and self-interest, and need to ask ourselves if this is good enough,’’ Holdom writes.
‘‘With that said, I am fundamentally optimistic, and much of my outlook is informed by confidence in the incredible potential of my fellow New Zealanders.’’
From 9am in the council chamber, Holdom and his councillors will debate the merits of what should stay in the long-term plan and what should go.
The meeting has been allotted 10 hours of council time.
After that, the auditor-general needs to approve the plan, before final sign-off before it comes into force on July 1.