Wellington mayor Andrew Little.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Wellington ayor Andrew Little has got his three-year plan over the line.
The triennium plan – the first by the council in nearly a decade – was adopted by majority vote on Thursday, 15 votes to three.
Councillors Ray Chung, Tony Randle, and Karl Tiefenbacher voted against.
The plan outlined a range of policy ideas councillors were advocating to get done over the council term, including the future management of Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant (a recent addition), the establishment of an office to streamline the building consents process, and increasing transparency around what Little characterised as councillor or staff “cock-ups” in a bid to improve trust in the council.
Little said the “guiding document” followed good and robust discussions and believed it reflected Wellingtonians’ expectations of the council.
He said everything in it was achievable, provided there were no unexpected events over the next three years that could derail them.
Several councillors who took the opportunity to speak ahead of the vote praised the process of creating the document – including those who voted against its adoption.
Little said those comments reflected the “spirit” with which the plan had come together and hoped it would prevail over the next three years as they carried it out.
Wellingtonians now face a proposed 7.4 percent rates rise this year, down from a projected 12.7 following today’s meeting.
Councillor Diane Calvert said savings found by council staff and the revenue and financial working group were responsible for the drop.
She said the changes would be worked into a draft annual plan budget that would go out for public consultation in April.
Green Party councillors also managed to push through an amendment to save money being slashed from the climate response budget.
The revenue and financial working group proposed cutting the budget by $1.65million following its line-by-line review of council spending.
The amendment to restore $1.1m of that was put forward by councillor Rebecca Matthews and voted through by a reasonable majority, Calvert said.
She said it was subject to finding the money elsewhere from two key areas; the social and recreation budget and the consultancy budget.
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