Greater Wellington adopts annual report

Greater Wellington Regional Council announced an operating surplus of $7.2 million for the 2003/04 financial year, $4.4 million more than budgeted, when adopting its annual report today. Greater Wellington chief financial officer Barry Turfrey said the surplus came from savings against budget, delays in some projects and additional income from investments. It included:

Savings of $0.7M in water supply due to spending less on chemicals, insurance and rates Savings of $1.4M in regional transport due to delays in a number of planned projects including rolling stock refurbishment and some “kick-start” services A surplus of $2.3 million from other areas, mainly income from investments, including Council subsidiary companies.

Greater Wellington had a successful year delivering on its commitments in the annual plan and staying, overall, well under budget. Expenditure for the year was $117M out of a planned $122M.

Major capital projects for the 2003/04 year included:

Flood protection works for the Hutt River such as Belmont edge protection works and starting the Strand Park realignment Replacing a pipeline to the Wainuiomata water treatment plant and relocating the Pukerua Bay branch pipeline Queen Elizabeth Park enhancements Rebuilding the Petone railway station

Mr Tufrey says Greater Wellington’s operating surplus above budget will be either carried forward to enable the planned projects to be carried out or used to repay debt. “In either case ratepayers will benefit,” he says. Greater Wellington has also reduced its net debt by $6.6 million, from $66.3 million at 30 June 2003, to $59.7 million at 30 June 2004. This year Greater Wellington will send a newspaper summary of its achievements and financial results to all households in the region in early November. A full copy of the annual report will be available from Greater Wellington offices.

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

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