By KCNews reporters
Mayoral, District-wide, and Ward election aspirants were well quizzed on economic issues at the Kāpiti Business Chamber candidates meeting at the Paraparaumu Rugby Clubrooms on Wednesday night.
The meeting, very well MC’d by the entertaining Andre Neill, deviated from the norm where candidates spend most of the time talking about themselves. This time there was a very brief intro by all candidates then it was straight into questions, largely on economic development.
First up were the two Greater Wellington candidates – Penny Gaylor and Sam Ferguson.
On the question – Should Kāpiti keep paying $500,000 a year to WellingtonNZ – Ms Gaylor said yes while Mr Ferguson said he had real concerns that Kāpiti is not getting value for its investment. Second question was how the candidates would uplift Kāpiti businesses. Mr Ferguson said we need to ensure local contractors are being used on major projects and the public transport network needs to be reliable and affordable. Ms Gaylor said GW used local contractors on the recent gravel work on the Waikanae River and added the new trains in 2030 will help our community.
Next up the Ward candidates who faced the question do you support Council’s current economic strategy. As expected there were a variety of answers but the general consensus was it was not affordable. Deputy mayor Lawrence Kirby said he had given it support but there were now some serious concerns about the cost with undefined returns. The three Raumati-Paekākāriki candidates Bede Laracy, Zelda Edwards, and Richard Young all said No. Ms Edwards said supporting the major events has paid off so investing in the right places is important. Mr Laracy said the strategy was wrong and the current EDKB board had reappointed themselves, against advice.
Gavin Welsh said economic development is critical but the focus should be on partnerships, including with government departments, but this should not come at a cost to ratepayers. Chris Harwood was also a No, adding there is some great stuff going on but we need to have another look at the strategy. Joanne Welch was a No and said there was not enough accountability. Jocelyn Prvanov said the strategy required more oversight by elected members and Murray Lobb said Council needed to focus on core services and their role is to ease the path for new businesses to set up in Kāpiti.
On the question of how would you support town centres there was again a variety of responses. Mr Kirby said each town needs to be an enabler and we need to support our local business community. Euon Murrell said many retailers are struggling and having good amenities helps bring customers/visitors. Ms Welch said we are over regulated and planning needs to enable businesses to operate and there are too many compliance requirements. Nigel Wilson supported business associations who knew the local issues. Ms Prvanov supported business associations and said council staff need to listen to local business associations. Mr Laracy also support more funding being made available for local business associations. Ms Edwards said it was important to make sure businesses were disability accessible. Mr Young pointed to Paekākāriki as being successful in attracting visitors. He advocates for a new car park there. Paul Baggott said it is important to attract government departments to locate here as 13,000 commute to Wellington daily. Chris Harwood said the Town Centre construct was old thinking and the way to attract people is when something is on, such as markets. Glen Olsen said the focus needs to be wider than just town centres.
Next – What would you do to encourage Tech businesses to set up in Kāpiti? Mr Olsen, an IT specialist, said it was vital to attract IT businesses and infrastructure and amenities were crucial to this. Ms Edwards said we had some great examples here including Maoriland Tech Hub. She said it was important to fund the right people and projects. Mr Kirby said there has been a lift in the tech space with the development of a tech cluster. He said we need to build the right environment for tech businesses. Mr Welsh said it was critical to have a council that is open and welcoming to new businesses. Ms Prvanov said there are many opportunities for tech sector businesses here.
A well earned break and then the Mayors took the stage.
First question – what is your business experience?
Liz Koh has an impressive business resume and said she is fighting hard for economic development. Mayor Janet Holborow was introduced as the ‘reigning champion and ‘gold medalist’ from last time. She said business development is vital for the wellbeing of our communities. Kim Hobson said he has been in business since 1984. Martin Halliday had owned three companies and had chaired a business association, while Dean Harris is a qualified builder and had an importing business from China.
Next – what is your leadership style?
Mr Harris said he has a listening approach and there are three sides to every story. Mr Halliday said he was inclusive and has an open mind. Mr Hobson said his style was collaborative based on trust and honesty. Ms Holborow said her first leadership role was as chair of the Paekākāriki Community Board ‘in a community full of leaders’. She said it was the same at council where everyone elected is a leader and it is important for the mayor to understand the aspirations of those elected. Ms Koh said her leadership style is based on having a shared vision. Rob McCann said his leadership style would have no spin and not try to fool the people all the time. He would make sure he communicated with all of the councillors.
How would you control wasteful spending?
Mr McCann said he disagreed with some of the council decisions and said they had been too quick to rubber-stamp government directions. Ms Koh said everything the council does is important but it is all about defining priorities. She said the challenge is in partnering with external organisations. Ms Holborow said ‘every Annual Plan and Long Term Plan we go through costs with a fine tooth comb’. She said the last annual plan process resulted in savings of $3.1million. Mr Hobson said spending is not out of control as some perceived it. He said the debt was too high and said revenue from his waste management plan was important. Mr Halliday said the previous triennium was unconstructive and now with the new CE things are working much better. Mr Harris said grants spending was far too high and the economic development spending of $31million over the next 10 years made no sense at all.
Will you preserve Kāpiti Airport?
Ms Koh said it is in private hands and it is up to them what they do with it. She said Air Urban are looking for ratepayer support and was not in favour of that. Mr McCann said it was not council’s role to play – they are private owners. Ms Holborow said we don’t own local business but we support and champion them. She said the community love our local airport and while we can’t control it we can support it. Mr Hobson said he fully support what is there now and would support avionics development. Mr Halliday said it stopped being a traditional airport when AirNZ pulled out. Mr Harris said once its gone its gone forever and would like see some tourism developed.
Questions from the audience included:
What would you do to attract more people to Kāpiti from Wellington? Mr Halliday said just wait until they get their first water bill down there.
How would you support the creative community? Ms Koh said she would set up partnerships in the community and promote the creative cluster through the EDKB. Mr McCann said they had nothing under the major events fund and we needed to promote the arts. Ms Holborow said we are already doing a lot with support for the Art Trail and the partnerships that had resulted in Te Raukura, Mahara Gallery, and the Waikanae Library as well as working with Maoriland and many other projects.
What are you two top priorities excluding rates?
Mr Halliday said – Become a unitary authority independent of Greater wellington, and lobby Health NZ. Mr Harris said – More bureaucracy…(roar from the crowd) before quickly correcting himself to More democracy less bureaucracy. Mr Hobson, said pay down debt and increase revenue (not from rates). Ms Holborow said her two were – resilient communities, and strong finances and infrastructure. Mr McCann said he aims to win trust from the community who currently had no trust in council.
Do you support the Maori Ward and will you support keeping it in the referendum?
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes. On the second part of the question it was another round of Yes except for Mr Harris who said he had not yet made up his mind on the referendum vote.
Handshakes, backslaps, votes of thanks, and the promise of more to come.
The Kāpiti Business Chamber next candidates meeting is in Ōtaki on Wednesday 17th 5.45pm, Ōtaki Sports Club, Haruatai Park, Mill Road, Ōtaki