Paekākāriki Community Board
Annual Plan Submission
28th April 2014
1. Introduction
We appreciate the opportunity to submit on the Draft Annual Plan,
which progresses year three of the Long Term Plan. We would also appreciate the
opportunity to speak to our submission.
We are concerned about the drivers of the high rates increases in
Paekākāriki. This is the third year in a row that urban Paekākāriki has had the
highest percentage increases of Kāpiti’s urban centers. This is affecting the
cost of living in Paekākāriki and is therefore impacting on the nature of our
community. We have suggestions from the community and the Board for
improvements to proposals for Paekākāriki and for additional services and
strategic opportunities in the Paekākāriki community for the 2014/15 financial
year.
2. Tilley Road Sports Fields - Play equipment and Toilets
The Tilley Road sports field development, which is nearing
completion, has been welcomed as a positive new development by the majority of
the community. During consultation on the development, draft plans were shown
to the community which included a possible play area. This has led to an
expectation amongst some that playground equipment will be installed. We
believe it will enhance the development considerably, and go some way to
replacing the play equipment which was removed from the Wellington Road
entrance to QE Park in recent years.
The sports field development and the increased numbers of walkers
and bikers using the park would more than justify a toilet facility being
provided. We understand that there may be a possibility of using the toilets in
the weaver's building, located by the new fields. If that is possible and
suitable for both sports players and general users of QE Park, new toilets may
not be necessary. However, if those toilets turn out not to be a possibility,
then a new facility should be funded. The lack of toilets was a concern
expressed more than once during community discussions about the project. Though
there are toilets at the Wellington Road end of QE Park, they are a sufficient
distance to be inconvenient for users of the Tilley Road entrance. With the
planned construction of a cycle way through QE Park, there will be greater need
for standalone toilet facilities.
We submit that playground equipment be provided at the new Tilley
Road sports field facility. If the toilets in the weaver's building are not
available and/or suitable, we submit that a new toilet facility be installed.
3. Lighting in Paekākāriki
Many street lights in Paekākāriki are very old and tired. Some
turn off and on regularly, while many do not work for extended periods of time.
A comprehensive review of the performance of Paekākāriki’s street lights should
be prioritised.
The trial of energy efficient LED street lights on Tilley Road and
Te Miti Street has been a success and has been welcomed by the community. The
lights consume just 50% of the power of sodium bulbs when on full, but are
twice as bright. They can be dimmed to 75%, 50% and 25%. They have a much
reduced ‘light spill’ only lighting the street but not the surrounding houses.
This reduction in light pollution is great news for our night sky and wildlife.
Each light can be controlled individually via the internet, and any issues such
as blown bulbs can be detected remotely, thus reducing maintenance costs and
delays. They are white like moonlight which improves visibility. They are a
retro-fit design, so not wasteful or expensive to install. The new LEDs are
supposed to last 30 years instead of 5 for the sodium bulbs.
We submit that a review of the performance of Paekākāriki’s
lighting be undertaken, that old and ineffective lights should be replaced with
new, energy efficient lighting, and that the trial of LED street lights be
extended through other streets in Paekākāriki.
4. Paekākāriki Community Trust Grant
Since the Paekākāriki Community Trust was established and St
Peters Hall purchased, an annual grant of $5000 has been in place that has
needed to be applied for annually. It was seen as a payment in lieu of rent so
that Council or any related group, including the Paekākāriki Community Board,
can use the Hall free of charge. It was originally made part of the Paekākāriki
Library budget and when the Library was temporarily relocated, it was moved to
another budget. The grant has not been included in this Draft Annual Plan.
The Trust pays around $15,000 pa in operating costs for the Hall.
This covers power, insurance, rates and ground rent. Ground rent from the
church is $5000 pa. The Trust has indicated that it has been very difficult to
find possible funders for operating costs with almost all prospects preferring
one off capital projects.
The Trust has let a contract to paint the interior of St Peters
Hall and on completion they plan to market the hall as a venue for meetings,
workshops, forums and training days etc. This would increase the usage income
and bring further economic activity into Paekākāriki and the Kāpiti Coast more
generally.
St Peters Hall is a central part of the Paekākāriki community and
has enabled countless positive and important events for the benefit of
residents including concerts, market days, public meetings, funerals and
children’s events. It would be very concerning if high operating costs put this
community benefit at risk, or if it forced the Trust to significantly increase
hire costs as that would dis-incentivise use of the Hall and therefore impact
negatively on residents and community groups.
We submit that a $5000 pa grant to the Paekākāriki Community Trust
for the operating costs of the St Peters Hall be reinstated.
5. Library services
When the transfer of the community library to Council so that it
could be established as branch library was negotiated, it was agreed that there
would be a qualified staff member to run it on a part time basis. There was no
room in the library budget at that time for a full time librarian but it was
agreed that a comparison with staffing in the other branch libraries (ie Ōtaki
and Waikanae) would, using population as the comparison, provide 1 - 1.5 FTEs
at the Paekākāriki branch.
With staff changes at the district libraries it seems that this
has been forgotten. The result is that Paekākāriki ratepayers pay for
district-wide library services but don’t get a fair allocation of staff
services at their branch. Currently, the Paekākāriki branch is only open for 10
hours a week.
We also note the proposal for CPI adjustments for all fees and
charges at libraries. We oppose this proposal, as well as a proposed increase
to interloan charges. Library charges disproportionality impact on those on
lower incomes, including young people and the elderly, and so any proposal to
increase charges should only be taken if absolutely necessary. The Plan itself
notes that this would have a minimal impact on library revenue and therefore it
seems unnecessary to incur significant additional cost on those who use the
service.
We submit that there be an increase in operating hours for the
Paekākāriki branch library and an allocation of 1 – 1.5 FTEs of qualified staff
time that would be proportionately comparable with staffing levels at other
branches in the district.
We also submit that there be no increases to fees and charges for
library services, and that fees and charges are not adjusted according to the
CPI.
6. Footpaths
We would like to have input into the footpath maintenance schedule
for 2014/15.
7. Strategic Land Purchases
Having purchased the entirety of the Perkins Farm land, NZTA will
have significant tracts of surplus land that will not be necessary for the
construction and maintenance of the Transmission Gully motorway project.
Council has already indicated to NZTA that it would appreciate if it could have
first right of refusal of this land. It is our view that Council should take a
considered and open-minded position at looking at strategic opportunities for
the purchase of sections of this land.
Given the one-off opportunity for purchasing some of this land
over following years, a temporary but significant increase in the Strategic
Land Purchase fund as part of the Development Management budget should be
considered.
In particular, the Board supports in principle the call of local
community groups for the purchase of the Paekākāriki Hill escarpment opposite
the railway station. There are numerous conservation and environmental benefits
that could flow from such a purchase.
We submit that there be a temporary but significant increase to
the levels of funding allocated for strategic land purchases, and that the
purchase of the Paekākāriki Hill escarpment from NZTA be investigated and
progressed.
8. Paekākāriki Station Precinct Trust public art project
The Paekākāriki Station Precinct Trust has recently proposed a new
project to add to its work of enhancing the cultural life in Paekākāriki. The
project, while still in its early stages, has the support of the Board.
The proposal is for a “public art trail” starting at the railway
station that would circle the southern part of the community and end up back at
the station. It would include literature and art from the local community and
tangata whenua, particularly work specifically about the Paekākāriki community
and its rich cultural history. Paekākāriki has long been known as a hub of
artistic and creative talent and the Trust plans to showcase that talent.
The project could be a significant opportunity for increased
tourism and therefore increased economic activity in the community. This would
work in to the aim of creating Paekākāriki as “a gateway to the Coast”. It
would also add to the creative and aesthetic value of the community.
We submit that funding and staff time be allocated to help develop
this proposal and help progress its initial stages. We ask that the Paekākāriki
Community Board have access to the necessary resource to assist the Paekākāriki
Station Precinct Trust in leading on this project.
9. Volumetric Charging Regime
In 2012, the Board carried out a survey on water meters and the
proposed volumetric charging regime to ensure that our submission of that time
on water supply options represented a range of views across the community.
Approximately 80% of respondents did not support the installation
of water meters, 19% were in support, and 1% were undecided. It should be noted
that Paekākāriki as a whole strongly supports the conservation of water, and we are by and large acknowledged as
low water users.
We are also concerned with the proposed charging levels, which
appear to be far from revenue neutral compared to the current flat-rate scheme.
As such, they appear to be effectively a further increase in rates above and
beyond those discussed in Section 10 of the submission.
We have serious concerns in regard to the impact of the charging
regime on social equity and the cost of living for residents. A significant
proportion of our community have limited incomes and are deeply concerned about
how they will afford the increase in costs on top of disproportionately high
rates.
Those who live in rental properties could also face higher rents
if landlords pass on the charges while getting a reduction in their rates
bills.
We ask for clarity as to whether published figures for rate rises
include, or do not include, water charges. We also ask that figures of expected
total rises in costs of council services (including likely water charges) be
published as part of the planning process.
The Board would like it to be noted
that the majority of those surveyed in Paekākāriki do not support volumetric
charging, and we strongly urge that the concerns raised by the community when
deciding on this issue are addressed.
10. Rates
Paekākāriki is a small community of approximately 800 ratepayers.
For the average property in Paekākāriki we pay a very large proportion of our
rates based upon the district wide general rates, separate rates for specific
activities, and uniform charges.
While we welcome efforts to reduce increases in the District’s
rates, Paekākāriki’s rates increase for this year alone has been projected at
5.96%. We believe that this is unacceptable, especially since we often do not
see the benefits of expenditure as it is targeted at areas with the greatest
increase in population and rateable properties.
It has long been the position of the Paekākāriki Community Board,
and the community, that rates should be based on Capital Valuation rather than
Land Valuation. Many people, particularly the elderly, have lived in
Paekākāriki for a long time, and the value of their properties have increased
dramatically. Many people on limited incomes live in simple dwellings located
on properties with inflated land values. They should not be forced to leave
their homes and community just because they can't afford to live in it anymore.
In our view this has a serious impact on social wellbeing and community
cohesion.
If changes to Kāpiti's rating policies are not undertaken, and if
there isn’t a move towards a capital value rating system, we have limited scope
to influence our rating level now and into the future.
We therefore believe that there should be greater accountability
in regard to Paekākāriki’s rates and that answers as to why we get a higher
percentage increase than most, but get fewer services, should be disseminated
to the community.
We also think that there must be ongoing scrutiny of expenditure
to try and push down rate increases further than those proposed in the current
plan. There are a number of areas where greater scrutiny is required that have
the potential for wasteful and/or unproductive spending. We therefore propose
the following points for consideration;
- A review of salaries at higher levels of
council staff;
- A review of staffing levels;
- Reduced lawn mowing/landscaping;
- A commitment to a zero change in logos and branding;
- Strict guidelines on outsourcing work to
consultants, with a view to reducing costs;
- Streamlining decision-making and consultation
processes, in particular ensuring that consultation is carried out only
when there is a commitment to act on feedback received;
- A stronger focus on consultative processes and
dissemination of information being led at the community board level;
- A rating differential for larger businesses
('big box' retail and the like);
- Arts funding to grassroots community projects
only (no major gallery extensions or expensive new public art outside
council buildings);
- A review of the communications budget, with
the aim of reducing costs;
- A commitment that legal action against local
Kāpiti residents only be pursued if it has the sign-off of the elected
council;
- Reduction in
size and cost of council publications (such as the Draft District Plan) by
removing irrelevant information and graphics.
We submit that there should be more information in plain language
about Paekākāriki’s rates, and that Kāpiti’s rating policies be provided to
Paekākāriki ratepayers to increase awareness, as well as the reasoning and
justifications behind the current rating policies explained.
We also ask that all of the above points in Section 10 be
considered with the view of further reducing rate increases for 2014/15.
Contact:
Jack McDonald
Chair, Paekākāriki Community Board
12 Mutu Road, Paekākāriki
027 759 1680
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