The News asked Ōtorohanga and Waitomo mayoral candidates their opinion on a series of issues.
Waitomo mayoral candidate and incumbent John Robertson.
Local bodies were threatened with a rates cap at the latest Local Government New Zealand conference. This financial year Waitomo District Council would have escaped capping, while Ōtorohanga would have had the brakes applied. What’s your opinion on this, and your council’s spending over the last decade?
I worry that rates capping will just mean further bureaucracy and cost to implement it. Waitomo has kept the average rate increase at the CPI for the six years that I have been Mayor, so under my leadership rates capping is not needed. In the 18 years from 2000 to 2018 however, Waitomo had the highest average rate increases in the country.
Te Kūiti ’s aging infrastructure has seen sewage regularly overflowing into people’s gardens. Is Ōtorohanga in the same situation? What needs to happen here and what will you do as mayor to ensure it does?
We are trying to find and attend to the causes of sewage overflow in parts of Te Kuiti during heavy rainfall events. It does not happen often, but it is unacceptable. Some happens because of old broken underground pipes, some because household downpipes collecting roof rainwater are going into gully traps and “flooding’ the wastewater network, and some because Te Kuiti is built in a gully.
Aspirational plans were recently announced by the local tribe for 5,000 new homes across the region for Ngāti Maniapoto. How bad is the housing crisis for tangata whenua and for everyone else? What would you do if you were elected mayor to help solve this problem?
We are short of housing, both for families seeking rentals or to own their homes. Under my watch we have been selling vacant Council-owned sections for others to build homes on. We will continue to do this. Social housing is also in short supply, thus my approach to Housing NZ to build on Lawrence Street. The private sector is back building at pace in Te Kuiti as confidence returns.
Tourism took a hit as a result of the global pandemic. How badly have the Waitomo and Ōtorohanga districts been hit as a result? Have the good old days of tourism gone? What would you do, if you were elected mayor, to boost tourism in your district?
The closure of NZ’s borders had a devastating impact on our district, with attractions around Waitomo Village closing. We are seeing tourism rebound, though not yet to pre-pandemic numbers. Tourism promotion responsibility lies with the private sector and central government. The tourism industry is pushing for a bed tax to fund promotion currently. I favour this approach. I am opposed to billing property owners to fund tourism promotion.
There’s talk of abolition of regional councils, and amalgamation of district councils. Waikato Water Done Well is being heralded as a way for the districts to work together. Do you support ditching the regional council, and your council taking on some of its functions? What about amalgamation? Which councils should you join with and why? Which would you stay away from?
Our drinking and wastewater services will shift into a regional organisation next year. This change will trigger a need to right size our council. I prefer that we lead this process locally and not have it “done to us’ by central government. My view is that in the interest of ratepayers, Waitomo and Otorohanga councils need to join together and form one King Country/Maniapoto Council. By coming together, we will reduce duplicative costs and save millions.
What other issues are people stopping you in the street wanting council and mayoral action on, and what is your response?
I get stopped in the street regularly on a multitude of matters. Cost of living, including rates and electricity, and housing availability top the list. On rates, I am doing all I can to have council be efficient to keep rate increases down. On housing, I am leading the charge to sell residentially zoned land for housing. We are making progress on these fronts. Unfortunately, I have no ability to influence electricity charges!
