Message from the Chair

Chair Fran Wilde

Greater Wellington has a wide range of accountabilities, including environmental, social and economic development. The inclusion of new areas of delivery in recent years has created a need for the organisation to be better attuned to the needs of all parts of the community and have greater agility in our responses.

In particular, we want to provide sound governance of natural resources and enable sustainable economic development. With many different constituencies around the region, we know that it is impossible to please all of the people all of the time, but recently we have been putting more effort into honing our ability to be proactive in the face of diverse needs.

The coming year provides us with challenges that are similar to those being faced by many other community and commercial organisations in our region. We have growing demand for services and, in some cases, forward commitments for substantial expenditure in an economic environment that precludes the generation of additional income to the level required. We are acutely aware that our residents need enhanced services (in some cases, such as rail improvements, “need” is an understatement) but at the same time many people are in their worst financial position for some years. Thus affordability is a major issue and we have taken it seriously in examining the programme outlined in this Annual Plan.

A year ago it appeared that the overall increase required in our rates income for the forthcoming year could be as high as 11%. By taking a baseline look at all our services, we have pulled that back to 2.2%. It is worthwhile noting that rates income accounts for just under a quarter of our revenue – general rates 8% and targeted rates 14%. The revenue graph on p7 shows you the whole picture. Though we have carefully managed the budget for this year, we know that there will be considerable pressure on rates next year when our payments for the new Matangi trains cut in, so we will continue to look at further savings.

Though spending in many areas will not increase this year, we have maintained our 10-year plan to push ahead with flood control work and we also have contractual commitments to buy the Matangi trains. The first of the trains off the production line are due to arrive in Wellington in the next few months and, after a commissioning process here, will start picking up passengers on the Hutt Line before the end of the calendar year. The majority of the infrastructure upgrade and renewal programme (double tracking, power lines and depot) being undertaken by KiwiRail is due to be completed around the end of the financial year and we expect that all lines will have some new trains running on them by June 2011. I know this will be a supreme relief for long-suffering Wellington commuters, who have been extremely patient with the frequent delays and breakdowns as the antiquated infrastructure is being replaced.

A major initiative this year is the process of developing a new Natural Resource Plan, providing updated rules and guidelines for the use of all natural resources. Until now we have had five plans covering different aspects of our environment, but we will be developing a single comprehensive one that will take account of the complex interrelationships between land and water. We are taking a “bottom-up” approach, starting with significant local engagement around the region to identify the key issues of concern.

We expect the whole development process to take at least two years and there will be plenty of opportunities for people to be involved along the way. The committee overseeing this work (Te Upoko Taiao – Natural Resource Plan Committee) is a partnership with regional iwi.

Feeding into the development of the Natural Resource Plan is our environmental research and monitoring. In particular, scientific data from the past few years is giving us the tools to help decide minimum flows for major rivers and sustainable yields for aquifers. These decisions are becoming important with increasing demand for water and a less predictable climate.

In the environmental area we have many ongoing “business-as-usual” commitments. These include areas as diverse as resource consent processing, didymo surveillance, a 24-hour pollution-response service and working with community groups, schools, businesses and landowners on restoration work throughout the region. These, along with soil conservation, biodiversity, pest animal and plant control, running our outstanding regional parks and, of course, the extensive flood protection work, are all core business for Greater Wellington – managing our natural capital for the good of the wider community. This year we will also be working on a management plan for our recent acquisition of the iconic Baring Head site which we expect will be added to our East Harbour Regional Park.

Similarly, we also deliver in social and economic areas – managing the regional civil defence and emergency response, planning the transport network, funding public transport, providing bulk water supply for the four cities, working as the major funder of the regional stadium and funding the region’s economic development agency Grow Wellington. Much of this work is best undertaken regionally and Greater Wellington is committed to working with our local authority partners to ensure that we provide top service and good value.

In transport, while rail delays have grabbed the headlines, we will soon be starting the rollout of the new real-time information system, developed and tested over the last year. Regardless of congestion or other delays, commuters will at last be able to know exactly what time their bus or train is actually arriving. This year we will also increase overall fare revenue by 3%, in line with our policy of maintaining the user contribution at around 45% to 50% of the cost of the services, with the remainder from rates and government subsidies. This increase will impact differently on different fare zones.

The Government’s announcement of the Wellington part of the Roads of National Significance programme has given us certainty around the state highway network (long overdue for upgrading) and we are now able to plan more effectively. During the forthcoming year we are also proposing to undertake a review of the formula used to calculate the transport rate applied to different areas of the region.

A new initiative this year will see us working with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to enable easier access to the Government’s home insulation scheme for people in our region.

Partnerships are not new to this region and, at a time when central government is contemplating the future arrangements of local government, it is pertinent to examine how we can build on this. Throughout the country, people are watching the impact of changes in the Auckland region, where the creation of one large council will result in one voice for a third of the country’s population.

In the Wellington region believe we already have a relatively high degree of collaboration, through the Wellington Regional Strategy process and other joint delivery mechanisms of local councils and other sectors. Nevertheless, it is prudent to search for ways to improve. The councils of the region are at present working together to see how we can better share service delivery in a number of areas and we are also exploring any potential changes in governance arrangements that might be more effective than the current setup. The final outcome of this will need to involve the community and hopefully we will be in a position to consult later this year.

This Annual Plan includes many other elements of work with our partners – local authorities, community groups, iwi, business and central government – as well as the work for which we are solely responsible. We look forward to delivering all of the programmes outlined in this Annual Plan and thank the other parties for their commitment to our region.

Fran Wilde
CHAIR