30 June 2015

Media release

Chris Laidlaw Elected GWRC Chair

Chris Laidlaw was today elected chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council at a Council meeting.

His election followed the resignation as Chair today of Fran Wilde.

Mr Laidlaw said:

“My first and overriding priority is to work with councils to find a meeting of the minds on the question of where to go on amalgamation.

“A lot has been said about the issue in recent months but from my perspective I want to start again from a clean slate. The important thing is to find a consensus that will work for everybody in the region and that will reassure people that local identity and decision-making will remain local.

“But there are some big issues facing the region that we are not currently set up to tackle so we need to do some serious thinking about what we do next.

“Everything we do at the Regional Council depends crucially on co-operation with local councils and stakeholders around the region. We’ve been making some real progress recently in areas like water quality and hazard management and that is very encouraging.

“Today we signed off on an ambitious 10 Year Plan for the region that will see a significant investment in infrastructure to boost resilience as well as continuing to improve public transport.

“We also approved a Proposed Natural Resources Plan that involved extensive consultation around the region and that represents a major step forward in how we can get economic growth while protecting natural resources.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to work closely with other councils and stakeholders in advancing the outcomes that are so important for the region.”

Ms Wilde will remain a councillor.
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