Source: Radio New Zealand
Wellington Mayor Andrew Little. RNZ / Mark Papalii
Selling off Wellington City Council’s cars, slashing consultant and climate budgets and bringing some traffic management in house make up a new report on council spending.
The revenue and financial working group were set up after the election as a campaign promise from Wellington Mayor Andrew Little and many other councillors to do a line-by-line review of council spending.
That paper was released on Friday morning and included cutting the council’s climate budget by $1.65 million, reducing its consultant budget by $600,000 and cutting down its vehicle fleet saving $2m.
Other ideas pitched in the report included bringing some traffic management in house, putting up the fees for disposing asbestos and renting out space in the council’s new office.
It was hoped the changes would reduce the projected rates increase for this year of 12.7 percent.
Getting that increase down would be part of the larger work the council would be doing with the creation of its next annual plan.
Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty told RNZ the group had been working at pace over the past few weeks to produce a report which had made 50 recommendations.
“They look at ways we think we can identify savings, where the can operate the business of council more efficiently or that there are revenue opportunities.”
McNulty said 37 recommendations were supported unanimously by the working group and 13 were supported by its majority.
The recommendations would be taken to the council’s planning and finance committee meeting next week.
The working group had nine council members Ben McNulty, Rebecca Matthews, Tony Randle, Andrea Compton, Diane Calvert, Ray Chung, Geordie Rogers, Sam O’Brien and Andrew Little.
McNulty said the group included the whole ideological divide of council.
“Everyone from Rebecca to Ray which is a very broad cross section and again we have come up with 74 percent of unanimous recommendations.”
He said there were recommendations he did not support.
“That is the whole point. Council is not about getting everything you want it is about trying to bring people together.”
Green Party councillors have put out a statement saying they oppose cuts to the council’s climate programme.
Councillor Jonny Osborne said it would put the city at greater risk of climate change.
“We’ve seen the damage climate change-fuelled storms are causing here in Pōneke Wellington and elsewhere in the country, often with tragic consequences.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
