Our old CBD is becoming our new Inner City

[Here is number three of my "Top Five Issues" listed on the vote.co.nz website.  The rest will be up soon] 

Changes in our business environment are happening all around us.  Our population is aging, convenience retail shopping is undergoing a shift to neighbourhoods and our inner cities are becoming more residential.

Rotorua's Eat Streat will look like this pretty soon.

This means a complete re-think about what we do with our inner city space.  Rotorua is one of many cities in NZ and around the world facing the same issue.  It will be our creative solutions that set us apart.

Clinging to the past and resisting change won’t get us anywhere.  We need to imagine our city in 20 years time and start planning now.      

Communities expect Council to provide things to do and see in the city and the Rotorua Night Market was a direct response to this expectation.  Events in our city provide a steady stream of free public activities like the Lakeside concerts, the Bike Festival and the recent Festival of Ice.  Work on the Eat Streat development is well underway.  This is a good model of how a successful public/private partnership can work.

We need to work more closely with other groups of retailers, business owners and residents. The increasing demands of earthquake strengthening, new building regulations and safety in public spaces provide a challenging opportunity to redevelop the look and feel of our inner city. 

I believe Council needs to assist in this transformation any way it can and I believe the addition of city art and a focus on creating a cycling pathway through the city will be a major driver of re-investment and pride in our new inner city.

See what Indianapolis did at http://www.treehugger.com/cars/biggest-bicycling-infrastructure-achievement-north-america-youve-never-heard-about.html

Farmers, sewerage schemes and clean water

[This is an extended treatment of the second of my "Top Five Issues" listed on the vote.co.nz website, I'll continue post the rest over the next week or so]  

Collectively, Central Government, Rotorua District Council, BOP Regional Council and the wider community are funding the clean up of our Te Arawa Lakes.  Measures include new lakeside sewerage schemes, alum dosing of streams, the pilot de-nitrification plant at Tikitere, floating wetlands and other ongoing trials.  While we are all doing our bit as a community, it’s important we support our rural community through this period of significant change.

Lake Rotorua's floating wetland at Sulphur Point.

Farming and lake water quality must co-exist.

We need farmers and we need clean water.  Working together is the only way to have both.  There are some major changes happening in our rural environment around Lake Rotorua.  While these may go unnoticed by many, the improvements in water quality are measurable and obvious for all to see.

Farming is vital to our region and keeping farms financially viable is of major interest to farmers and Council alike.  Farm management systems need to evolve and runoff mitigation processes need to be more widely deployed.

Farmers are being asked to farm less intensively and to make changes to how they currently use their land.  Land use change is a major economic issue for our region with significant investment opportunity for iwi.  Options include the consideration of innovative crops such as tea, hops, truffles and saffron.

I am actively involved with these discussions in my roles on the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy Group and the Stakeholders Advisory Group.  I am looking forward to continuing in these roles and making further significant contributions in this area.

Please see the www.rotorualakes.co.nz website for detailed information on the health of our lakes and other related projects.

Running a city and balancing the budget: choices, costs and compromise

[This is an extended treatment of the first of my "Top Five Issues" listed on the vote.co.nz website, I'll post the rest over the next week or so]

“Council spending is influenced by many factors such as government legislation, the rate of inflation, community expectations and increasing costs for maintaining and building new infrastructure”.

Mike Reid, Governance Manager, Local Government New Zealand

"You can't please all of the people all of the time", perfectly describes the conflict we face in balancing the budget.  Running a city costs money, you may not personally use some of the most obvious services (eg the library, aquatic centre, museum or sports fields), but can you imagine a city that didn’t have these facilities?

Council is always balancing the competing needs of older ratepayers, families and young people.  One way we do this is build now and pay later.  You call it a mortgage, councils call it inter-generational funding.  For example, the Aquatic Centre has a useful life of 50 years, so payment should be spread over 50 years of rates (and ratepayers). The money is borrowed at lower than average interest rates and forms part of council’s debt.

The council needs to operate in a professional manner as a business, being accountable to you the ratepayers.  Council debt is often compared to a private sector business or a family.  However there are a few significant differences: Council can’t just close down, the kids never leave home and somebody else (central government) makes all the rules.  Unlike your mortgage, Council will continue to pay off debt and continue to borrow more for as long as people live in Rotorua.

Community expectations have risen and tolerance has dropped.  There is increasing demand for toilets to be cleaned, rubbish collected, leaves removed, graffiti erased, potholes and leaking pipes fixed and roaming dogs taken off the streets. When the frequency and demand for services is increased the costs go up.

Each year, the annual plan process requires a constant balancing act between our level of debt and keeping rate rises low.  Opinions often differ around the council table and I can assure you they certainly differ widely between the submissions we receive from ratepayers.

It is routine for all councils to borrow funds for capital expenditure like the replacement of water supplies.  If we don't borrow the money, we have to raise your rates.  For a full list of urban and rural capital works for this year please see pages 16-19 in the RDC Annual Plan 2013/14 www.rdc.govt.nz.

When I sit at the council table I am constantly aware of the need to maintain a city we can be proud of, while keeping rates as low a possible as well as minimising our debt.  This will remain a major focus for me while serving on Council.

STOP, COLLABORATE AND LISTEN

[An abbreviated report about the New Zealand Planning Institute Annual Conference that I attended in May this year]

Ken Tremaine contended that central government remains in silos. He lamented that we never do enough global comparisons nor steal enough good ideas from others. 

NZ needs to rise above the “we have no money therefore can’t think.” mentality that pervades decision-making.  Central Government has the best intentions yet these are based on opinions, not evidence.

Community plans should be at a new neighbourhood level

Neighbourhood plans recognise people are passionate about where they live. It has become important to mobilise this passion for place – to use this force for change.  Planners need to expect the unexpected as communities design what suits them best. 

 Business as usual is untenable

What is required is transitional and even transformative governance.  Our current models simply are not good enough.

We are more than ever building in higher risk environments, basically putting more in harms way.  NZ does great natural hazard research, BUT not enough, not consistent and not up to date.

Communicating risk:  What does a 1 in a 100-year event really mean? Risks change over time.  No one else in the world has land insurance.  NZ is the 2^nd most insured country in the world. Christchurch has changed the landscape of insurance.

We need to identify who pays, how and when.  At what stage do we learn to live with risk?

The way forward:  Don’t allow development in the wrong place and don’t allow intensification of development that is in the wrong place. 

Collaboration and communication are increasingly important.  Local politicians need to be involved with people on the ground.

CBD is becoming an out of date term, we need to rename our Inner City. 

In an age of out of town malls and internet shopping we need to ask ourselves "what are town centres for?" 

Can or should they be dominated by shopping or should they re-imagine themselves to serve a cultural, entertainment and social purpose?

There will be a reduction of space required for retail in cities. (UK retail space down 27% in the past few years, now residential.)

It is a citizenship model not a customer model.  We must raise expectations of our inner city spaces.  We have plenty, there is just nothing to do or see in these places.

There is NO silver bullet. Retail is no longer driven by profit and price now experience and service.

 All roads lead to roads

 

We have given the design of our cities to traffic engineers, who have no idea they are responsible for it.

We need to ‘put roads on a diet’. Provide for more cycling. 

Copenhagen, Vancouver.  These cities have proven that if you build safe cycle lanes they will be used.  It’s about amenity not the weather.  

 A lot of people are trying to cling to an old way of life, trying to solve 2013 problems with solutions based in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Papa Pounamu the Principles of Co- Management.

Benefits of co-management can be quicker and cheaper.  Moving away from litigation to more collaboration. Iwi have a desire to be more proactive and less reactive.  Iwi want to be at the table not just ‘consulted’.

Consultation = informing, telling it how it is.  This is no longer good enough. Communities are asking for more involvement earlier. 

Summary

I enjoyed the conference and the key themes addressed. 

• ·         Change is happening; we must look forward for solutions and stop hanging on to the past.
• ·         Stop putting homes in harms way, as insurance may be harder to get if we do.
• ·         Communities want to co-create not just be consulted, neighbourhoods rule!
• ·         Share our data, really work collaboratively towards a common goal.
• ·         Put roads on a diet, in and around cities.
• ·         Cycling is here to stay and the first cities that really embrace inner city cycling and prioritize it will be those that thrive and grow.

Karen Hunt: Candidate Profile Statement

[To be published in the Rotorua press and election papers] 

Thank you for your support during my first two terms on Council.  I really enjoy working with the community and have fully immersed myself in the diversity of issues facing Rotorua.

Our community is facing change on many levels.  Change brings both challenges and opportunities.  Innovative solutions are required and a willingness to think outside the square.

I am a creative thinker, who is not afraid of new ideas.  I bring a mixture of vision and pragmatism to the Council table and I will continue to work towards a shared vision for our community.

I am mindful of the difficulties many residents are facing in our community and I actively support people having more involvement in decision-making at the grass roots level.

Using the experience I have gained, I will continue to work hard with energy and integrity. I seek your support for re-election and thank you for your vote.

Get the Message?

Yesterday I attended Adding Sustainable Value, a sustainability course with  RDC staff members Niki Carling and Monika Quirke.  Niki is using the RDC Cycling Strategic review as her case study to do a process map.  After a full day of analysing we recognised that communication with our community is at the heart of many our issues.  

We have been trying to do this better and follow the rules, but people still believe that we fail to engage.  We feel that we have consulted with the community, but still get asked: When? With whom? How?

There is a better way and I believe if there is a willingness to try a different model and I believe we will all benefit.  

Niki is pictured here in front of one of the slides that I will be using to explain this concept to my colleagues and promote a better way of consulting.  One that is actually meaningful and works.  

We have some work ahead of us to make the shift, I plan to initiate some changes.  Let me know what would work for you and please keep the feedback coming.

Steps Toward a City of Cycles

On Monday I attended a community meeting organised by Niki Carling, Transport Safety & Sustainability Coordinator at the Rotorua District Council .

Niki organised this meeting to look at the RDC cycling strategy as it is now due for review.  Attendance was 45 people, compared to three years ago when only six people attended.  There were many types of cyclists: the serious bike to work each day cyclists through to the inner city cyclists who like the slower pace mixing some exercise in their pursuit of good coffee. Of course there was a mountain biker on crutches with a knee injury!

Of equal importance is the interest of our engineering staff listening to the community.  Andy Bell (Group Manager Infrastructure Services) , Peter Dine (Works Manager and Mark Buckley  (Senior Planner Hydrus Engineering Consultants) as well as other staff, are all active commuter cyclists.  

In groups, we all had the opportunity to look at what are the most pressing issues for the community and individual cyclists. 

Niki will circulate a draft strategy incorporating the collected views and I will give you an update when that is released.

Old Fund New Goal

[Published in Inside Eastside (formerly Mokoia Matters) May 2013]

The Neighbourhood Matching Fund (NMF) previously the Community Asset Development Fund.  

This is an existing fund with a new name, a new direction and an opportunity to get seed funding for community led projects both big and small.

Nationally there is increased focus on Inspiring and sustainable communities and on the EastSide you already have some great examples of community led development.  The community gardens at Hannah’s Bay Reserve and more recently the Aspen Place Reserve makeover.  If you haven’t seen them go and have a look for yourself, see what a difference a few committed and passionate people can make.

It matters what our environment and spaces look like and it affects how we feel about where we live.  Community ownership of projects is a way to have a positive influence that strengthens your neighbourhood and makes you feel proud of where you live.

The Neighbourhood Matching Fund encourages communities to develop projects using the skills and talents of the people who live there. It allows you to decide what you want to happen in your neighbourhood.

You come up with the ideas, get your friends and neighbours to pitch in and see the difference you can make.

If you and your friends have an idea to create something or have a project you want to run.  If you want to make a difference, and someone has skills they are willing to share and all you need is some financial support, then please contact Rotorua District Council and ask about the Neighbourhood Matching Fund and how to apply for it.

I believe it provides great value for money, and an opportunity to foster local leadership and support creativity from all age groups. 

I encourage you to take pride in where you live and I know that, with the combination of your time and labour and the council’s financial support, great things can happen.

There will be two tiers of grants those up to $1000 and those up to $20,000.

Total annual fund is $50,000. The fund will be available from the July 2013.

If you would like more information please contact me.

Back in the Saddle

My blogging has taken a back seat over the last couple of years, during what has been a very busy second term on council.

With the election looming however, I've been giving some more thought to social media.  I have started a FaceBook page for day-to-day thoughts, photos and links - https://www.facebook.com/crkarenhunt.  Please take a look and "Like" me if you'd like to receive my FaceBook updates.

In this blog, I'll be posting documents that I have prepared for various publications as the election draws closer.  I'll also include anything else I that I think is more appropriate here than on FaceBook.

Make a comment or send me a post if there is anything in particular you would like me to address.
Thanks for your interest and support.

Karen