Council candidates, from left, Barry Dowler, David Ogilvie, Martin Lucas, Peter Canton and Paul Hawkes

More unity than dissent at Council candidates meeting

September 7th, 2016
[by David Armstrong]

The three councillors who will be elected to represent the Motueka Ward have promised to work together to further promote and advocate for Motueka.

All five candidates at the "Meet the Candidates" meeting yesterday at Community House provided hope to the 30-strong audience that Motueka will have a strong presence, working from the same song-sheet, at the Council table for the next three years.

The well organised event, hosted by Grey Power, heard Barry Dowler, David Ogilvie, Martin Lucas, Peter Canton and Paul Hawkes answer about a dozen pertinent and challenging questions around policies that directly affect Motueka people.

Pleasingly, the candidates treated each other and the audience with great respect, giving honest and direct answers without resorting to any slanging off of their rivals.

The meeting, chaired by Grey Power President Barry Goodman, began with the candidates introducing themselves with a quick three minute account of their past activities and an overview of their strongest policies.

It was when the pre-submitted questions, and several others from the floor, where dealt with that differences in policies emerged, although on many questions there was largely full agreement.

The major questions and summary of responses were as follows.

Waimea dam
All candidates said some sort of water augmentation project needed to go ahead, as "water is the new gold", but also said strongly that they would insist the cost to ratepayers must not exceed the proposed $25 million.

Peter said he would be "horrified" if the figure was increased above that, and would insist on a binding referendum before that could proceed.

David was comfortable with the $25 million figure, but said that rather than this being spread evenly among all Tasman ratepayers, those who will benefit directly should pay 70% and the remainder 30% of the bill.

Council involvement in commercial operations
Again, all candidates said that TDC and ratepayers benefited from council managing some commercial activities, but given the experience at the Mapua wharf, more due diligence and wisdom must be used in making commercial decisions.

Paul noted that income from commercial activities are needed to keep our rates lower, and Barry said that knowing the full story of the Mapua situation he was comfortable with the results.

David was concerned that only two of the five members of Council's Commercial subcommittee are elected officials and too many decisions are made by unelected staff and consultants behind closed doors.

Deferral of the Motueka library project
All five candidates favoured building a new library as part of a community hub beside Decks Reserve, although Barry said he was also comfortable with making improvements to the existing library.

Paul, Peter and David all said they had been very active and vociferous over the past couple of years trying to get the library project brought forward, and would continue to fight for the required feasibility study next year and building thereafter.

Peter pointed out that while the library and service centre components will be paid for by TDC, other parts of the hub will be funded by the community and other agencies. Although he had been against the library three years ago, he had listened to the community and was now a strong advocate.

Council involvement in social housing
Barry and Martin said they were happy with the status quo, David would like council to supply more pension units, and Peter and Paul said they would prefer Council to engage other social or commercial agencies such as the Sallies to provide social housing.

What is higher priority - fixing stormwater drains, or a library and hub?
The candidates agreed that this was the easiest question of the afternoon to answer. Given the anguish suffered by those who are often flooded, stormwater drains wins every time.

It was pointed out that while the stormwater is totally a Council responsibility, a community hub will be a private/Council joint venture so there is no conflict for funding.

Peter and Paul both added that they would fight for both causes and that there were sufficient funds available to cover them both.

Ward councillors working as a team
Peter agreed with the questioner that during the past three years the ward councillors had rarely worked together to advocate for Motueka, and this was not a good scenario.

Both Peter and Barry, as incumbent Councillors, said that the big decisions were not actually made at the Council table but earlier behind the scenes, and often as part of the Long Term Plan process.

All five candidates said that if elected they would make efforts to meet and discuss all key votes coming up and aim to get a degree of agreement, including compromises where necessary, so they could provide a common front on issues pertinent to Motueka.

Barry said that a lot of the time spent by Council is around allocating priorities in the Long Term and Annual plan processes, and this is where the Motueka Ward councillors need to work together.

David said he would work to ensure that the three elected councillors would hold at least monthly meetings on pertinent issues and work out compromises if there is disagreement on some policies.

Town planning and parking
A question from the floor pointed out the growing problem of parking spaces as the centre of town gets busier and planning gets underway for a community hub.

Barry said TDC's car park strategy and review for Motueka will be done early next year, and hopefully that will see a rational plan to cope with increased parking problems. He mentioned his own vision of the current Decks Reserve parking area being a shopping mall with car parking above.

David said Council will need to look for new parking spaces which may mean even pulling some buildings down. Although purchasing properties to do this is expensive, the need is becoming urgent.

Martin said that more consideration should be given to walking and biking, or even the use of community shuttle buses to bring people into the town centre.

Paul said that as the West Motueka development increases, there is a drastic need for more parking on the west side of High Street, and that TDC needs to sort this out in its upcoming review.

Comment by Johny O'Donnell:
[Posted 7 September 2016]

Very accurate reflection of the meeting. There was a lot of consensus between the candidates. It was also useful to hear from sitting councillors Peter Canton and Barry Dowler who have an insight into the challenges of navigating council decision making.

It's a shame we don't have a more diverse line up of candidates but one can't help but think the future may be brighter with a coordinate council unit for Motueka.

I was surprised that Martin was the only candidate to suggest something other than building more carparks. Surely we have better use for our town spaces than cars? Extending these would run into residential or commercial property and cost a small fortune. I agree with Martin - more bikes, walking and community transport.

Comment by Rae Dozell:
[Posted 8 September 2016]

Johnny I think you would add the diversity - be the change you want to see! Great to know that the candidates will work for Motueka's benefit and take our messages/issues back to Richmond.

Comment by Paul Taxi:
[Posted 8 September 2016]

Great Report - Horrified at the suggestion of a shopping mall in Decks Reserve!

Comment by Jim Butler:
[Posted 8 September 2016]

Excellent summary of the responses by candidates and the photo David. The question from the floor on limited parking in the town drew interesting responses. One wonders what will happen, if anything, but like the library we mustn't hold our breath.

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