‘Golden decade’ for city?

Christchurch should be in a “golden decade”, and cut costs rather than services, the city council has been told.

In a submission on the council’s long-term plan, Business Canterbury, formerly Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, has urged the council to a take “a more deliberate and ambitious approach” and help the city flourish.

The council has spent five weeks taking submissions on the plan, which outlines 10 years of spending, and will finalise it in June.

Business Canterbury chief executive Leeann Watson said the council has an important role enabling economic activity and growth, taking the opportunity to build on the rebuild.

“As the earthquake rebuild ends, with all major infrastructure projects due to be completed in the next few years, as a city and a region, we are in a great position to be the best city in New Zealand to live, work, play, and invest,” the submission says.

“Being able to look back at these next 10 years and reflect on a ‘golden decade’ will not happen by accident.”

Watson says the submission addresses the upcoming “rates hump”, and urges the council to look at internal efficiencies, bureaucracy, and staffing, instead of looking at what it delivers.

The plan proposes a 13.24% overall rates rise for the upcoming year, including a 14% rise for businesses. Increases would taper off to single-figure percentages over the decade.

“Every business in Christchurch has been impacted by the same inflationary pressures and rising costs that the council has, yet few would be comfortable, nor get away with raising prices by 14% right now.” the submission says. “Cutting costs is not the same as cutting services.”

The submission also urges the council to adopt an “enabler” rather than an “enforcer’” approach to businesses.

Businesses need council decisions to be “consistent rather than changing at a whim which creates uncertainty and a lack of trust leading to a loss of future investment and commitment to this city”, it says.

A recent Business Canterbury survey showed members of the business community see council has a “handbrake and installer of red tape”, with only 11% saying the council supports and enables businesses well.

“Council should proactively engage with businesses to understand their challenges, identify barriers to growth, and create solutions with the business community that foster a better business environment,“the submission says.

The submission wants Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL), the company that manages the council’s assets, including the port, lines, and airport companies, to take a longer-term view.

Business Canterbury says the council sticking with the existing mandate for CCHL is “extremely short-sighted” and will cost revenue the council could have spent on infrastructure. In December, councillors declined CCHL’s request that it be allowed to manage its portfolio, including bringing in other shareholders and investing in other assets to boost revenue.

The Business Canterbury submission also says better funding is needed to attract and keep major events for the city, as other centres such as Auckland and Wellington “appear to have significantly more event funding then Christchurch”. It welcomes the prospect of a council climate resilience fund, but wants to widen the range of future events it is used for.