I
am excited to be standing for re-election in this year’s Rotorua Lakes Council
Elections. I would be grateful of your
support.
When
I joined the Rotorua District Council in 2007 I had campaigned on several
burning issues – Care of the Environment,
Art in Public Places, Safe Cycling and Community Safety. In 2010 I
added Sustainable Business Development
and in 2013 I also focussed on Balancing
the Budget and Our New Inner City.
It’s
taken a while, but I have initiated or contributed to major progress in all of
these areas over the last nine years.
None of this is about vanity, it’s about listening to what people
want. It’s about observing global trends
and adapting them to our own environment.
It begins with keeping up and then taking the lead.
Business
Development.
Doing
business in Rotorua remains challenging and I applaud the efforts and successes
of local businessmen and women. Rotorua
businesses are succeeding, with fewer empty premises, increased employment and significant
growth in visitor numbers and GDP.
At
a recent meeting organised by the Chamber of Commerce, council candidates were
given clear messages: Continue the good work of the current council and for
goodness sake work as a team!
Art
in Public Places.
Public
art is springing up everywhere around the city.
It raises our spirits and adds beauty to our surroundings. It strongly signals that we are proud of this
place and some pieces become tourist attractions in their own right. Not everybody likes every piece – that’s art.
Our
recently compiled Arts Trail map boasts more than 60 pieces to visit and
admire. Most of these works have been
funded from existing budgets and philanthropic support from the Rotorua Trust
and others.
Balancing
the Budget.
Our
budget is balanced. Recent figures
confirm a reduction in debt level and an increase of cash-in-hand. There will always be movement in our rates,
especially with large infrastructure projects in our future, but rating levels
compare well with other cities our size and I support the need to keep them
affordable.
All
councils carry debt. This is important
and necessary. Borrowing allows big
projects to be funded over more than one year and allows public amenities to be
partly funded by future users, instead of just the current ratepayers. Our debt level is lower than many NZ cities.
Care
of the Environment.
Our
environment needs ongoing stewardship which requires a fine balancing act
between the absolute requirement for improved lake water with reduced nutrient
levels and the understanding of the issues affecting those who make their
living off the surrounding land.
For
all of my time on the council, I have served on numerous committees working for
the improvement of lake water quality. I
have developed a deep understanding of the issues and this knowledge will be
important as we begin to grapple with the issues around the redirection of city
wastewater out of the forest. This will
be an enormous body of work, which must be completed by 2020.
Our
New Inner City.
Remodelling
of central city areas is necessary to restore vibrancy and bring us confidently
into the 21st Century. I am
pleased to have been involved in the popular Eat Streat development. While the ongoing City Focus refurbishment may
be considered controversial by some, I am confident that next year’s end result
will be beautiful, welcoming and continue to honour the rich cultural
significance of the meeting of Hinemoa and Tutanekai.
In
the future we can look forward to the long awaited redevelopment of our
lakefront reserve. Over the years, I
have had the chance to review some very thrilling concepts and ideas for this
space. I’m excited and hopeful that I will have the
chance to contribute to the conversation when this project is being undertaken.
Community
Safety.
Community
safety continues to be an important issue to me and to all city residents. While this is primarily the responsibility of
central government and the police, we have made great strides in this direction
locally.
I
have encouraged the inclusion of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental
Design) principles into all work carried out on new and remodelled public
places. Remarkable improvements occur
when attention is paid to the detail of sightlines, uncluttered spaces and amenity
lighting which remove the dark spaces that can encourage dangerous practices
and situations.
City
of Cycles.
Back
in 2007 I voiced the concept of Rotorua as the City of Cycles and I believe
that we are moving inevitably toward this designation. Our recognition as the premier destination
for recreational and competitive mountain biking makes this clear.
It
is only a matter of time till we reach our goal of completing a network of safe
cycleways throughout the city. These
will bring riders of all kinds (cycles, mobility scooters, rollerskates) into
the city to link up with the already completed inner city pathways. Look at any successful city in the world –
this is happening everywhere.
The
Holding Pattern Myth.
If we
likened Rotorua to an older person, retired or close to it, we would want our
mortgage paid off. We’d paint the house
for the last time and buy our last car.
We’d batten down the hatches and await the inevitable decline.
Rotorua
is not a person and this comparison
does not work. The city will never
retire and lose its income. New
residents are being drawn by our success and our income is growing. Clearly we must spend it wisely, but not make
the mistake of fearfully retracting into some kind of holding pattern. Our duty is to continually refresh and
reinvent a vibrant city that our successors will be proud to inherit.
While
it is common for politicians to claim credit for successful developments and
projects, it is never the case that everything stands or falls with just one person. I believe that I have contributed
meaningfully to all of the above areas and more, as a fully functioning member
of a team.
If
I am re-elected in October, hopefully with your support, I will
continue to work both energetically and passionately to build us a better city.
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