SEPTEMBER MAHURU 2024
Community boards to be scrapped next year by Louise Parry Silence greeted the news that community boards will be abolished in Hutt City next year. A vote to abolish the boards, were created after amalgamation in 1989, was held on Tuesday, September 10 and as city councillors spoke, the death knell for community boards was loud and clear. Only four voted in favour of keeping them: Tui Lewis (Harbour), Simon Edwards (City-wide), Keri Brown (Wainuiomata), and Chris Parkin (Western). All eight councillors who voted to end community boards said that while it was a tough decision to make, the issue was inequity. Having the boards in only three wards – two in the Harbour Ward and one in Wainuiomata - meant most parts of the city, in particular the northern suburbs, were underrepresented. An independent panel undertook the representation review as mandated under the Local Government Act. It recommended increasing the number of councillors to 13, to be made up of five elected at-large from across the city, one councillor elected from Mana Kairangi ki Tai Māori Ward covering the whole city, and seven councillors elected from five general wards. It also recommended community boards cease at next year’s election. The Eastbourne Community Board’s sixweekly meetings have been well attended by the public in recent years, particularly around projects such as Tupua Horo Nuku, speed limit reductions and dog bylaws. Cr Brady Dyer (City-wide), himself a former member of the Pito-one Community
Board, said that most of the submissions were biased because they came from areas with community boards, which are funded mainly by areas of the city that don’t have them. Cr Andy Mitchell (Eastern) said voting only on retaining or disestablishing the boards was a “lose-lose situation”. He said LGNZ called community boards the heart of local communities, and inequity in Hutt City had been an issue since amalgamation. He was sad that there had been no work to engage the whole City in more local representation in the intervening years. While the Act states that communities of interest could request a community board in their area, there were barriers in place. “This system doesn’t work for every community in Hutt City. We should be looking for something better.” Harbour Ward councillor Tui Lewis said she had cut her teeth at the Pito-one Community Board, and while she agreed the current model was flawed, disestablishing the boards was “throwing the baby out with the bath water”. The council was effective because the majority of councillors had served an “apprenticeship” on community boards, she said.. Mayor Campbell Barry, a previous member of the Wainuiomata Community Board, said he had a responsibility to think about the interests of the entire city. Retaining the Eastbourne Community Board alone was not an option and he had decided to “support the majority” and vote for the boards to be disestablished. Following the meeting, Cr Lewis said she thought the councillors who came through the community board system would have defended
them to the city, knowing their value. She was surprised by the vote, and had believed the mood was for retention. The biggest argument against community boards was the imbalance between wards, however the Act did not mandate equality in local representation. ECB chair Belinda Moss said there was no plan for any form of replacement for community boards, despite most of the councillors and the mayor alluding to the need for something new. The Mayor had suggested the ECB be included in investigating other options. She said Eastern Bays residents who contacted board members about local issues would be less likely to get in touch with the council directly, as they found the process intimidating. ECB member Bruce Spedding said in recent years ward committees, appointed by the council, had been tried and failed, and any iteration of local representation needed to be elected. He was concerned that the Harbour Ward's only councillor would struggle to meet her commitments to Petone and Eastbourne without the assistance of board members, while fulfilling her duties as deputy mayor. Mrs Moss said the ECB will be among those appealing the decision. The council also voted for Pencarrow Coast Road to the lighthouse to be included in the Harbour Ward – previously it was part of Wainuiomata. Anyone who submitted can lodge an objection to the Council’s final proposal by October 12 at haveyoursay@huttcity.govt.nz. Anticipating these, LGNZ has a scheduled hearings date of November 26.
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