Greater Wellington re-elects chair and deputy chair and warns of fiscal challenges of next three years

Greater Wellington welcomed seven new councillors and seven returning councillors today as part of its pōwhiri, swearing in ceremony, and inaugural meeting of the new triennium.

As part of the proceedings, Councillor Daran Ponter was re-elected by his peers as chair of the regional council and Councillor Adrienne Staples was re-elected as deputy chair.

In his inauguration speech Cr Ponter looked back on what the council had achieved over the last three years.

“This was a period where we cemented relations with mana whenua, made significant strides in resetting our region’s natural resources plan, started a journey with Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitane in relation to Wairarapa Moana, commenced works on RiverLink, championed government co-investment into flood control, completed major capital investments in our bulk water supply assets in the Hutt Valley, purchased additional land for the East Harbour Regional Park, commenced a more aggressive programme of revegetation of our regional parks, identified land for a new Wairarapa Regional Park, and tackled issues related to rescue capability in the Cook Strait.

“We also signed off a new hybrid train fleet, the total refurbishment of the Wairarapa line and Remutaka Tunnel, investment in the Wellington “throat” and the replacement of all wooden traction poles on the rail network.  Plus, investment in three new publicly owned bus depots, further electrification of our bus fleet, the introduction of new routes and capacity, and big strides in bus reliability,” said Cr Ponter.

Looking ahead, Cr Ponter said that this triennium would be great but warned that a lot will be asked of Councillors as they navigate fiscally challenging times, significant reforms, and the need to plan for the future.

“Our biggest challenge is to sink a lid on rates increases, while navigating the trade-offs around service cuts this will inevitably bring.  As we did in this financial year, we will get to a lower rates number than set out in or Long-Term Plan, but with that will come questions around quality and levels of service.  As part of what has become the tikanga of our Council table we will strive for consensus.  It’s not always possible, but when achieved, decisions are more robust and stand the test of time.  It can make for some bloody long discussions, but the results are worth it,” added Cr Ponter.

Cr Staples said it was important to continue to bring a regional lens to the council table.

“Every councillor is different from the other. Age, sex, background, experience, politics, address, owns a dog, is owned by a cat, has a horse, is clean and tidy, is clean but not tidy - the list goes on and on - but we have to work to together to make governance decisions, for our region, as a whole.

“So, the first challenge for us all is learning to live with each other’s idiosyncrasies. The next is being able to bring the views of those that elected you to the table but then making regional decisions. That is not easy with a region as diverse as Greater Wellington, and, like a big family, not everyone can have new shoes and a bike every Christmas.  Some family members may have to wait and that is not always easy when it’s your family, or the new shoes are on order to arrive in five years’ time.

“We will continue to advocate for all parts of the region, whether that’s more bus priority lanes, more planting our regional parks, investment in pest control, working towards a regional park and water resilience in the Wairarapa, or working hand in hand with the government on co-investment flood control schemes,” said Cr Staples.

Review Greater Wellington’s new councillors