Dear Wellington,
Well it’s been nearly nine months as a Wellington City Councillor; the role covers everything from city planning for 2040 to sorting out a recycling bin in Melrose. Every day has been a new challenge:

Some of the recent highlights:

• Council’s confirmation of support for the planning of the Mt Victoria Tunnel/Basin Reserve to airport road project to move forward. A bit of fur flew around the council table over this but in the end common sense prevailed. Read further on for more motorway updates.
• The roll out of the residential recycling bins scheme. Essentially a great scheme but with some hiccups. Stay calm as the council has Mike Mendonca, an extremely helpful guy, ironing out the kinks. If you feel that you have unfairly missed out having a bin send me an email. Schools, hang on you are not forgotten, council is working on a plan. It’s just a little more complex, large collection trucks and children do not mix.
• Attending the opening of ASB bank in Kilbirnie, we need businesses coming out this way to set up. It is a pity and I believe short sighted that Kiwi bank is shutting its branch in the flourishing suburb of Miramar.
• The Roxy Cinema opened its doors adding another bit of movie magic to the eastern suburbs; unfortunately council copped flak because the parking wardens were spotted out there. Remember the fish and chip shop, vet, video and lotto shops all need quick turnaround parks to survive. One of these shops has had its turnover drop by 30% because short term parks are being misused, it’s not perfect but we are working on a complete redesign of this area.
• Speed limits through Miramar, Strathmore and Seatoun will drop to 30 KPH, yes I know you probably travel that fast anyway when it’s busy in these areas. I still believe that this bulk shopping centre speed limit reduction is clumsy. Subtle engineering, gentle speed humps, raised areas, such as Kilbirnie are self-regulating and work! What’s more the police are emphatic they do not have the resources to police our speed change signs anyway.
• Lyall Bay Surf Life Saving Club prize giving with Celia, congratulations on the successes of the club. This club has great depth and has threatened to get Mrs. Marsh and me into wetsuits for a surfing lesson in spring. As long as I’m not mistaken for a beached whale and towed back out to sea.
• The Wellywood sign, enough ink and energy has been spent on this. However the council needs to assure businesses that when it makes a legal decision it will not change its mind and move the goalposts.
• I was MC for the Wellington Badminton Association under 17 Australasian champs, this sport is great exercise and companionship for young adults. It looks easy but I was gasping for mercy after five minutes.
• Graffiti or plain vandalism; I have met with Theo Gommans our returned community constable and we believe with his local knowledge, community patrols and for us to keep our eyes open things will improve. I believe this is a zero tolerance issue.

Looking forward :

A second Mt Victoria Tunnel is getting closer ; one of my key election issues was easing traffic congestion from our eastern suburbs. Building a second Mt Victoria tunnel is a key element of this. Not everyone agreed with the idea but 9 out of 10 people I surveyed were in favour.

A preliminary plan has been developed by NZTA and will be open for public consultation July 2nd. Feel free to email me with any questions or ideas for improvements. I am sure the plan will produce outrage from the anti-road lobby, a pity when this project is designed to reduce through traffic from the city centre and will provide a safe and dedicated cycle and walking route from Taraniki Street to Kilbirnie Park. I do believe that we need to move forward faster with the second Mt Victoria Tunnel and give it the same priority and timing as any Basin Reserve improvements, not delay it for years.

Focus on business growth ; Councils lack of direction in this area has been a nagging concern for me. We are now working a strategy to encourage businesses to stay here and to come here. I am keen to see as part of this “business friendly capital” a mechanism for council to minimise the barriers businesses currently run into. We need to be a “business friendly council”.

What will this year’s rate rise be? Councils draft budget has been discussed and 789 Wellingtonians have made comment and suggested amendments. Increasing parking charges, library hours and earthquake/disaster preparedness are common themes of concern. Over the next few weeks we will finalise the budget which will determine the increase in rates for 2011-2012. I can say it will not be anything like Taurangas rate rise of over 10%.

Simon “Swampy” Marsh
Wellington City Councillor

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