Media Releases - August 2002
29 August
Council stays with FPP
27 August
Building industry issues balcony warning
26 August
Council on Move
20 August
Harvey Leads Delegation
16 August
Council approval ratings high but "no room for complacency"
Waitakere diver wins world championship title
1 August
Waitakere and Galway talk business
29 August
Council stays with FPP
Waitakere City Council last night agreed it should retain the First Past the Post (FPP) voting system for the 2004 local government elections.
Under the Local Electoral Act 2001, each local authority has been asked to review the system used for electing its members.
All local authorities have until September 12 to consider whether they want to retain the FPP electoral system or adopt the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system - although the decision on whether or not to hold a public poll can be made up to February 28 next year.
The majority of New Zealand's 86 local authorities who have already made a decision, have opted to stay with FPP. As of today, only four have opted for STV.
Deputy Mayor, Carolynne Stone, says the decision to remain with the current system was made after debating the pros and cons of both options.
"After Council advertisements in the local papers raising the issue, there doesn't appear to be any groundswell in Waitakere City for changing the way that we vote," she says.
Councillors were also concerned by the estimated $140,000 cost of conducting a public poll on the issue - money they feel could be better spent elsewhere.
"If anything, we felt Council funds would be better spent engaging residents in the voting process, rather than conducting a poll about what voting method we should use," Cr Stone says. "We'd also like to wait and see how STV works in the next District Health Board elections (also held in 2004) before considering a change."
Councillors were also wary about the additional costs that adopting STV would bring - an estimated $75,000 more per election. The nature of STV voting means that voters rank all candidates in order of preference (as opposed to choosing one preferred candidate in FPP) so processing the votes takes much longer and incurs more costs.
Waitakere City residents are still able to petition the Council to hold a public poll, as long as five percent of the
population demand one.
For more information, people can visit the website www.stv.govt.nz or
contact us.
27 August
Building industry issues balcony warning
In recent months the Building Industry Association has undertaken a study into the issue of "leaking" (or "rotting" houses).
That detailed report is due to be released in September.
However, during its investigations, the BIA has become particularly concerned about the safety of balconies and decks.
The BIA feels that as safety is of paramount importance, homeowners should be made aware of its concerns in advance of its report into the broader issue.
Homeowners who believe they may have a problem should contact the BIA
for further information and advice.
 The
Building Industry Association's contact details are:
26 August
Council on Move
Waitakere City Council is moving to the heart of Henderson.
At a meeting this week, Councillors agreed that new headquarters in the
Henderson town centre was a better option than extending the current Waipareira Ave building.
The possibility of the Council moving has been mooted for a number of years and was officially discussed in June, following a major review of
accommodation requirements.
Councillors unanimously agreed that the existing building does not adequately
serve the needs of ratepayers and that the current practice of leasing 6 other buildings in the immediate area leads to duplications and long-term costs that
would be eliminated if operations were under one roof.
Consolidating the Council on one site will lead to annual savings of more than $1.6million.
A move to Henderson would eliminate those on-going costs while also allowing the Council to provide better services to ratepayers, says chief
executive Harry O'Rourke. Being able to provide a "one-stop shop" for people
was a major driver of the review, he says.
"At the moment people have to run around different premises if, for example, they want a consent. That costs our ratepayers time and money. Bringing staff
into one building will also eliminate a number of internal duplications."
The new building - in the Trading Pl/Ratanui St area- will include a new central library serving the whole City.
Work will start in 2004 and take around 18 months. Final costings and designs will come back for approval towards the end of the year, however estimates
are that the net cost will be around $30 million. In taking its decision, the Council also committed to
minimising the impact on rates by offsetting the investment in a new building against future funding opportunities.
Extending and refurbishing the existing Waipareira Ave building would have cost around $20 million, but would not have
realised the added social and economic benefits.
Mayor Bob Harvey says that cost was just one factor in the Council's decision.
"We also looked at the long term and the benefits to ratepayers as a whole, as
well as the positives for business," he says.
"A move into the town centre will bring more jobs and hundreds of thousands of dollars to local businesses, and it will also mean long term savings for
ratepayers because we can deliver services more efficiently under one roof."
Mr Harvey says the decision is in line with the Council's strategies for strengthening town centres. "The Council has been a catalyst for major
investment in places like New Lynn and Te
Atatu, and that is continuing," he says.
"Those places are transforming and that is what we want to start in Henderson
too."
"It's no co-incidence that major banks, educational institutions like Unitec and
government departments like WINZ are already in the middle of Henderson. It makes good commercial sense and it also benefits their customers. That's our
aim too.
"Henderson is our CBD and it's simply an accident of history that the Council
offices are hanging out on a limb miles away. The new building will be close to public transport routes, parking, and much more accessible for residents. It
should have happened years ago."
Mayor Harvey says that a civic building in the heart of
Henderson will be "the final piece in the jig-saw" which includes the new
Aquatic Centre, Tui Glen, and the redevelopment of the old
Corban Estate into an arts centre.
Henderson business people have welcomed the news, talk of which has been circulating for some time.
"It's great," says Moka Restaurant owner Leza Corban. "Foot traffic is what
this main street needs, and Council staff and visitors to the new building, as well as more students, mean that we (local businesses) will have a solid base
of new customers."
Long-time businessman and former Business Association head John Newick says it is an "excellent" decision. "Everyone wins. Ratepayers get the benefit
of improved efficiency by having Council staff back in one building, staff and councillors get the added benefit of easy access to all the facilities in
Henderson, and businesses get the benefit of more potential customers."
"It is very encouraging to see Council leading by example by relocating to a commercial centre. This is a very good signal to all businesses in Waitakere
City that Council is becoming not only customer friendly, but also business friendly. A developing partnership between Council and business has to be
good for growth in employment and therefore prosperity for everyone," Mr Newick says.
Meanwhile, the Council is continuing to work with Unitec (which has a campus in Henderson) on a shared development of the building, and in particular the
library.
That agreement is expected by the end of the year.
"The Council committed several years ago to building a new library in Henderson," says Mr O'Rourke. "With that in mind it was logical to talk to
Unitec about what we can do together in terms of a complete civic building. A shared development means that we can both spread costs."
"I am confident that between now and the end of the year we can strike a deal with Unitec that not only benefits them but, more importantly, our ratepayers."
The existing civic centre- built in 1983- will be sold to off-set costs, however
the Council cannot discuss how much it is likely to get for reasons of commercial sensitivity.
 For further information
contact us.
16 August 2002
Waitakere diver wins world championship title
Waitakere City diver Kaitlyn White has won a world junior diving championship title - the first New Zealander to do so since 1985.
White (14) won the title in her specialist event - platform diving - at the World Junior Championships in Aachen, Germany, beating her nearest rival by more than 11 points.
Formerly of Wellington, White moved to Auckland with her family last year to be closer to the Waitakere City Aquatic Centre - widely recognised as the national centre of excellence for diving. She is trained there by internationally-renowned diving coach, Steven Zhu, a former coach of the Chinese national diving team.
16 August 2002
Council approval ratings high but "no room for complacency"
Waitakere is a great place to live - and that's official!
In a recent survey, 86% of residents have given their City the big thumbs up.
The survey of more than 600 people shows that approval of the city and the
Council is generally high and, in two categories, is at an all-time high.
As a Council, I think we can be extremely satisfied 86% of residents think Waitakere is a good place to live and 75% think it is a safe place to live," says
Councillor Janet Clews, chair of the
Financial and Operational Performance Committee.
"We are also very encouraged by the fact that 69% of the residents are happy with the Council's services overall. That is the Council's highest level of approval in seven years and the second highest ever."
Ironically, however, the lowest approval statistic may be one of the most satisfying. "One might be tempted to say that 'only 43% of residents believe they get good value for rates money' but that is actually an all-time high approval level and a considerable improvement on past performances. Considering that the survey was taken after the rates increase was announced, it is a positive result and heading in the right direction," says Councillor Clews.
The other all-time high was satisfaction with Environmental Health, at 70%. Libraries at 83% approval, continued their trend of always rating extremely highly.
"That is wonderful progress but it doesn't mean we can be complacent," says Councillor Clews.
"Naturally we celebrate the successes but there are other results which must be turned around. For example, only 39% of people are satisfied with housing in the city and more than half the workforce travels out of the city to work", she says.
"We have to continue our work in those more strategic areas."
Councillor Clews says that the council is continuing to work on its customer service delivery.
"This Council is very conscious of the fact that it is a servant of the residents and we have been working to be as "user-friendly' as possible. Some years ago we introduced the 24-hour call centre and
up skilled counter staff to improve the service efficiency. More recently we have refurbished our website and given it more customer service capability."
"We shall go on working on customer service in the future because it is through being as responsive as possible that we develop the city and council services that the public want from us," she says.
20 August
Harvey leads delegation
New Zealand will be hailed as a model at the World Summit on Sustainable Development
starting in Johannesburg next week. With over 65,000 delegates, it will be one of the largest conferences ever held.
Heading a New Zealand local government contingent is Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey.
Mr Harvey will deliver a keynote address on "How Leading Cities Lead the World."
He will share the podium with the mayor of Curitiba, Mr Cassio Taniguchi, the German Minister for the Environment Margrit Conrad and the Mayor of Freiburg Mr Dieter Salomon.
In the session, Waitakere- the self-styled "Eco
City"- will be held up as an example of how communities should approach environmental issues.
Mayor Bob Harvey says: "I will be showcasing the difference that acting locally has made in New Zealand. Every night the world news swirls around with violence, terrorism and racism and frankly makes people miserable and traps the world into feeling that we can't do a damn thing about it.
Well I'm here to tell the world that we can, and we have. Over the past 20 years, in Waitakere we've turned things around at a very basic level. We've drastically reduced rubbish and water consumption, put the brakes on pollution and generally improved the quality of the environment and through that the lives of our citizens. Those are messages we are telling the world, with really simple, concrete actions to back them up."
"Ten years ago," Mayor Harvey continues, "Waitakere City adopted Agenda 21 principles from the Rio Earth Summit. In those 10 years we have followed through and delivered. I'm not going to this conference expecting international miracles, but what we can expect to see is that cities such as Waitakere, Freiburg and Curitiba have led the way and delivered results that prove that the hard work is paying off. We don't have to be trapped into inaction and inertia - we can act locally and make a difference that people recognise and believe in and act on."
For further information see Mayor Harvey's column "What
I'm thinking"
1 August 2002
Waitakere and Galway talk business
Waitakere became the first New Zealand city to link with a major Irish powerhouse city, when a sister city agreement with Galway City, was ratified by the Council this week.
In the future, both cities are set to benefit from exchanging expertise: Waitakere learning the secrets of Ireland's stunning economic growth and Galway, the secrets of Waitakere's
- and New Zealand's - success in environmental
sustainability.
Mayor Bob Harvey has for several years urged that Waitakere could learn many lessons from Ireland's stunning transformation from an under-performing rural economy, into a runaway success in the "green" electronic industries.
However, when he visited Galway last week to pursue a sister city arrangement, he found that it was the Irish who hoped to learn from Waitakere City, as a leader in sustainable management practice.
"On the day I arrived in Galway, the whole of Ireland was furiously debating the environmental damage that extreme economic growth brings. Their rubbish dumps were bursting at the seams, their water and air quality was continuing to decline. People were desperate for smart, do-able advice and I was able to re-assure them that New Zealand and Waitakere City's clean green expertise offers them a proven pathway toward sustainability.
"So, I expect this arrangement between Galway and Waitakere to be of great, mutual, practical value,"
Mayor Harvey said.
The Chief Executive of Waitakere City, Harry O'Rourke, is following up on Mayor Harvey's visit. While in Britain managing the New Zealand Commonwealth Games Judo Team, Mr O'Rourke will travel to Galway to discuss details of the relationship, which are likely to include the exchange of technical expertise in solid waste reduction, water and waste water management, and cultural exchanges.
Mayor Harvey said "This has been very well timed. That the Chief Executive was able to follow up so quickly on my initial visit, indicates to our new international partner that we are eager to cement this as a working relationship rather than simply a ceremonial one. Waitakere has yet to fully realise its potential in "green" industries, such as Information Technology and telecommunications. The Irish on the other hand have become the colossus of those very industries but they are facing a huge environmental crisis."
For
more information contact us or see the Mayoral
report.
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