Climate, cycleways to fore at budget hearings

Support the proposed climate resilience fund, push on with cycleway projects, and reduce library hours to save money.

These are among the suggestions from Christchurch’s community boards for what should be included in – or excluded from – the city council’s 10-year spending plan.

Today marks the first in at least eight days of public hearings on the council’s Longterm Plan (LTP), with nearly 300 speakers scheduled to speak to their submissions – though the council says there could end up being many more.

Christchurch’s six community boards are first up to have their concerns heard. The Waimāero Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood board was the most critical of the draft plan, with much of its submission dedicated to scolding the council for not trying hard enough to review its costs, and for showing “minimal transparency”.

The board said council spending wasn’t aligned with community expectations, giving an example of sculptures in Northwood not being maintained. The board suggested reducing library opening hours to save money.

The Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton board took that thought a step further, suggesting that the council consider bringing back penalties for overdue library items. However, it thought that overall, the council’s draft plan was balanced.

The Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board disagreed, saying the council’s plan to borrow $93 million more in the period to 2031 failed to meet the council’s own benchmark for a balanced budget.

Although the Waitai board said its citizens were on lower incomes than average, so less able to absorb rates increases, it called for improved services in the eastern suburbs, such as rubbish removal and weeding.

Waitai, along with the Waipapa PapanuiInnes-Central and Waihoro Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote boards, urged the council to keep proposed cycleways and other transport projects.

For Waipapa, it pointed out that the $22.6m Wheels to Wings cycleway had been a long-standing commitment by the council, but it wasn’t clear if it would be delivered. The board said community members would be disappointed if the council went back on its word.

Although the Waipapa board supported climate resilience, and requested a review of flood mitigation within the ward, it was the only board that did not share a stance on the climate change resilience fund – a proposed climate levy to help Christchurch deal with the effects of climate change.

Meanwhile, Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula Community Board’s submission had a huge focus on climate resilience, both in its support of the climate fund, and call to accelerate work on climate adaptation projects (such as the coastal hazards programme) and fund pest management.

The Waimāero board said it was unsure if it supported the climate fund, saying it wasn’t clear how the fund would be managed and used.

The Arts Centre’s submission will also be presented today.