Rotary Club of PlimmertonA Super City for Wellington, or not?
Bryan Jackson
Bryan lists his interests as his family, reading, sailing, walking, music, the theatre, and (lastly) business. But when you realise that he is a life member of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Motor Trade Association, a board member of the Motor Trade Association Guild, a member of the NZ Institute of Directors, and that he holds eight directorships, you do wonder when he finds the time.
Bryan is a longstanding resident of our region. He sat on the Wellington Region Local Government Review Panel which felt that the Wellington region needed a revised local government structure that provided stronger regional leadership and a more inclusive local democracy. In its final report in October 2012, the independent Panel recommended a new Greater Wellington Council be established, led by a Lord Mayor elected by the region and six Local Area Councils to manage local issues and maintain strong democracy at a community level.
Bryan will be talking about the composition of the Panel and how it worked and the drivers for change. He’ll give us some examples of issues facing the region including ‘patch protection’. He’ll tell us about the Auckland experience and give us a case study of savings that have been achieved. And before he elaborates on the Panel’s conclusions, he’ll tell us a nice, human story about ‘handling’ Sir Geoffrey Palmer who was Chair of the Panel.
b.hjackson@xtra.co.nz or ph 027 422 3366
Busting the Patch Protection Racket
By David Pine
Achieving buy-in from local bodies to reform Local Government in the Wellington region will not be easy. This is because each local body is intent on protecting its own patch, according to Bryan Jackson, who was a member of the Independent Panel convened last year by Porirua City and Wellington Regional Councils to consider the options for our region.
Speaking at Plimmerton Rotary on 20th August, Mr Jackson noted that the panel was chaired by Sir Geoffrey Palmer, whose knowledge of legal matters was invaluable; and included Sue Driver, with her passion for achieving the best outcome for the community; Sir Wira Gardiner, contributing his expertise from the perspective of local iwi and the business community; while Bryan Jackson brought his wide knowledge of local infrastructure to the table.
The panel attended 9 public meetings. The one held in Porirua was very well attended with 300 local people coming along. In addition the panel received more than 200 written submissions.
The main findings were included in the panel’s report presented in November 2012. It was clear that local people wanted strong regional leadership for the greater Wellington area, and to feel included in the decision making process. They did not want the eventual outcome to be known as a “super city”. The Panel recommended that there be one Mayor for the region, with 11 regional councillors and 6 regional bodies - one each in Kapiti, Porirua, Wairarapa, Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt and Wellington. The panel recommended that each regional councillor should serve for no more than three four-year terms.
The panel noted that the Wellington CBD should receive special recognition for being the employment hub of the whole region.
An interesting fact that arose from the Panel’s work was that for the Wairarapa area, 34% of rates notices for properties in this region are in fact mailed to addresses outside of the Wairarapa. This served to suggest that Wairarapa should be part of the new structure.
The next step is for the Local Government Commission to consider the Panel’s submissions, as well as those from other interested parties. The Commission’s final report will be binding. Mr Jackson was cautiously optimistic that a majority of the Panel’s recommendations would find their way into the Commission’s report.
Snippets
Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Plimmerton on being the Winner in the Heritage and Environment Category of the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards, for the Inlet Pathway. The awards ceremony took place at Pataka in Porirua on Monday evening.- Basic results of the Media Questionnaire: 86% of the Club responded. 75% had visited the new website. 85% of Club members use Internet Banking, e-invoices and statements. 80% use websites in general. Facebook is not used so much. 90% read the Bulletin etc., on screen. There is a desire amongst the membership to learn and to know how to 'post' onto our website.
- Working Bee and planting at the Nursery and at Ration Point on Saturday 24 August. Meet at the Nursery at 9.30am with gloves, spades and kneelers. For further information contact Peter Jackson: 235 8204 or peter.jenny.jackson@xtra.co.nz
- Rotary International World Convention is to be held in Sydney, at the Olympic Village site - 1-5 June 2014. You can register here. Accommodation is very sought after so if anyone is interested in going to Sydney in June next year go to the Convention website and register and get somewhere to stay. So far there are three couples wishing to stay at the Ibis in Darling Harbour.
- A notice from Club Treasurer Bruce Couch: “The Board has set the subscription for the year ending 30 June 2014 at $290 including GST. Invoices will be issued if you need one. These subscriptions are now due and it would be appreciated if members could make prompt payment - preferably by direct credit to the Club’s bank account 060 565 0073602 00.”
- Martinborough House Sauvignon Blanc for sale at $170.00 per dozen. $85 goes into Club funds and $85 goes to Rotary International. Contact Jenny 234 7657 or jenny.lucas46@gmail.com
- Attached is the District Directory for this Rotary year. It is 130 pages long! If you want to have it as reference, save it to your hard drive.
- There is a new category on the Roster: Host for Maike, our exchange student, at the weekly meeting, a very pleasant duty. Maike has excellent English and is a very intelligent and likeable young woman. Sit with her at dinner and make her feel welcome.