Council, Board, and community update December 2022
A round-up of events & activities over the past month
A warm welcome to subscribers who have joined recently 🙂 I’m slightly rearranging my online presence and hope that this newsletter will be a helpful way to keep in touch.
Council
There have been three Council meetings since my last newsletter, as well as a public briefing on the draft annual plan, and a meeting of the Finance and Performance Committee of the whole. See the Council’s ‘Agendas and Minutes’ page for full details.
Much of the discourse over this time has related to the state of the Council’s finances and the potential impacts on rates. The live stream of the annual plan briefing gives an excellent background to the situation.
The Council’s 7 December meeting included consideration of the Northington Partners report relating to the Strategic Review of Christchurch City Holdings Limited (CCHL). See the meeting agenda and minutes (link above) and video (part 1, part 2) for more details. Amongst other resolutions, the Council resolved 10 votes to 7 that :
In line with the recommendations from Northington Partners in relation to the scope of CCHL: Working closely with the Council, that CCHL be requested to scope and develop In line with the recommendations from Northington Partners in relation to the scope of CCHL detailed business cases which fully considers the costs and benefits of adopting a hybrid approach to managing the portfolio, including rebalancing and returning capital to council. Noting that this will include a spectrum of options including rebalancing the portfolio.
Portfolios: update
Further to my previous note about Portfolio Leads (appointments were made in November to: Central City Revitalisation; Youth; Multicultural; Accessibility; and Climate Change), we now have Terms of Reference for these portfolios. The details terms can be found in the agenda for the Council’s 14 December meeting (item 13). In short, portfolio holders champion, keep abreast, act as a spokesperson or representative, and provide a viewpoint and act as a sounding board for Council Officers. What portfolio holders don’t get is any resources, statutory or governance delegations, or other powers. The Council also resolved to allow nine months for the initial portfolios to ‘bed in’ before establishing any others. On a related bright note, the Council also resolved to re-establish a Youth Committee.
Draft Housing and Business Choice Plan Change (Plan Change 14)
On 14 December Council staff hosted two webinars on the proposed Housing and Business Choice Plan Change. This is the package of proposed changes that would bring the District Plan in line with the National Policy Statement - Urban Development (NPS-UD) and the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act, to enable more development in the city’s existing urban footprint. The changes include enabling the building of up to three homes, up to three storeys high in most residential areas, and greater development around the central city and some other areas.
The webinars included an update from staff subsequent to the Council’s decision not to notify the plan change, as well as an explanation from Government-appointed investigator John Hardie in relation to his role.
The PowerPoint presentation from the webinar, the video of both sessions, and a Q&A document, are all available on the Council’s Plan Change 14 web page.
Community Board
The Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board met on Friday 16 December. The meeting was livestreamed on the Board’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The Board’s governance arrangements for the term were decided at this meeting, and our schedule of ordinary meetings might be of particular interest. We unanimously resolved to hold one meeting a month at 4pm on a Thursday in the Papanui boardroom, on dates as shown in this screenshot from the minutes:
There was considerable support around the table for at least some of our meetings to be held at a venue more accessible to the eastern part of our Board area. In my debate on the motion, I noted that the Board area is larger than for the Papanui-Innes in the previous term, but also that an additional resolution (quoted below) allowed for this term’s schedule to be modified. I said I’d be disappointed if we finished even a calendar year having only met in Papanui and would be supportive of us holding meetings in alternative locations, particularly thinking of Central Ward and the distance from Papanui to Phillipstown.
Approves that the Board Chairperson and Community Governance Manager are jointly authorised to amend the Ordinary Meeting Schedule as required, after consulting with the Board members, including adding or removing ordinary meetings.
The Board is now in recess until our first ordinary meeting of 2023 on 9 February.
By-election update
Further to my report in my last newsletter that former Councillor and Board member Ali Jones had ruled out standing in the Innes Ward Community Board by-election, today’s news is that she will contest the seat. Jones, who was a Councillor and/or Community Board member for the area for three terms until this October’s election, stated:
“The traffic is atrocious, flooding continues to be a concern, roads and pavement conditions are very poor in places and the intensification issue is only adding to these challenges. At the same time, this is an awesome area with fabulous green spaces, neighbourhoods and close-knit communities which will only get even better with the right representation and local knowledge.”
The December edition of the St Albans News names Mark Wilson, Harrison McEvoy, and former Papanui Councillor Mike Davidson as prospective candidates.
Nominations close tomorrow 22 December, and postal voting will run from Thursday 26 January 2023 to Friday 17 February, with results expected later on the 17th. At the time of writing the Council’s ‘elections’ web page shows three nominations have been received, including Wilson but not Jones, McEvoy, or Davidson.
Some of what I’ve been up to
What I’ve been reading
Simon Kingham is a Professor of Geography at Canterbury University, with a focus on transport, community, and streetscape, and is also the Chief Science Advisor to the Ministry of Transport. Last year I was a member of the hearings panel considering Stage 3 of the Nor’West Arc major cycle route, and we received a very helpful submission from Simon.
Simon recently wrote in The Spinoff that Lower speed limits don’t just save lives – they make NZ cities better places to live. This article canvases a range of benefits from reduced urban speed limits, including not just safety, but also reduced CO2 and NO2 emissions, and reduced traffic noise. Simon also quotes evidence that lower speed limits in urban areas add virtually no time to journeys. I found the information on emissions particularly interesting - with the Christchurch City Council currently consulting on lower speeds, it is interested to learn that lower speeds decrease transport emissions, despite concerns I’ve heard from some members of the public that they could increase.
What I’ve been watching
Simon also recently spoke at The Tuesday Club at Smash Palace on the topic of transport options.
What I’ve been doing
It’s been a busy month with my work at Te Ora Hou Ōtatuahi as well as in the community. A contract that I’ve had a major role in managing for the past ten years hit the headlines, with the Press reporting “250+ Canterbury schools without truancy services when contract expires in 6 weeks”. All I can add at this point is that there has been a procurement process underway.
Community events in the past month include Christmas markets at Redwood Primary School, Aratupu Preschool and Whānau Hub, and Edgeware Village, as well as Celebrate Bishopdale and a market day at St Albans School. I also attended several local functions put on by residents’ groups in the central city, a summer celebration at the Phillipstown Community Hub, and the Shirley Community Trust’s AGM.
Along with Pierce Crowley (UCSA President) I met with three of our local Labour MPs on behalf of Free Fares NZ, to request a continuation of the current half-price fares for public transport users, as well as making public transport completely free for: Community Services Card holders; tertiary students; Total Mobility Card holders; and under 25s. While it is positive that the Government has subsequently announced that half-price fares will be made permanent for Community Service Card holders and Total Mobility card holders, it is disappointing that the discount is being phased out for other public transport users and that there is no movement on free fares for priority groups.
Rain on 19 October brought more flooding to the Innes Ward. I called in to meet several affected residents on Francis Avenue, and also took a look at pumps being activated by Council contractors.
I attended two events focused on climate action:
Lastly, I had the chance to catch up with the Canterbury Police neighbourhood policing team at Mitre 10 MEGA in Papanui, who had partnered with Mitre 10 to run a promotion focused on prevention of theft of vehicles and from vehicles. Thanks for the assistance with anti-theft screws, now fitted to my license plates.
Thanks for reading! Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss anything related to my Community Board role, or anything else mentioned above or that you know or think I might be interested in. You can also just hit ‘reply’ if you’ve received this newsletter by email. If you just can’t wait to hear what I’m up to, follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more immediate updates.