Hutt City Council has three strategic priorities for our city:

1. Providing future fit infrastructure
2. Enabling a liveable city and vibrant neighbourhoods
3. Supporting and enhancing the environment.

I support these priorities and most of the steps Council is taking towards them. There's been some good achievements recently.

However, Council's approach to achieving them has not been sustainable. Substantial change is needed.

Plan progress

1. Reduce Council rates by at least 40%.  ✔  Council rates dropped by this amount when Tiaki Wai was set up.
2. Cap future rate increases to inflation. There has been some progress in reducing planned future rates rises, but more needs to be done to meet future rates caps and the address affordability concerns.
3. Rewrite Council's financial strategy. The strategy is scheduled for review over the next few months. I have already submitted my key concerns and the key changes needed to deliver significantly lower rates increases over the coming years.
4. Independently review Council's costs. Council officers commissioned an operational review before elected councillors were confirmed and committees established. As a result, we had no opportunity to input to the terms of reference. The work undertaken was very thorough in some regards and established a framework for further analysis to generate cost reductions. It didn't deliver what I hoped for in other areas. For example, rather than a high-level comparison of a few cost categories against a small number of other councils, I would have preferred seeking best practice examples of other councils in terms of efficiency and measuring ourselves against them to find improvement opportunities. I would also have preferred a full analysis of cost increases answering questions such as:  Do we still need 100 more staff than we did a few years ago? Why have infrastructure costs per kilometre increased by between 200 to 300%?
5. Tighten delegations and controls. A new, independently chaired, Audit & Risk Committee has been established. A significant area of focus has been on cyber security following an incident in early 2026. I've requested more comprehensive option analysis in reports seeking capital investment when including things such as net present value comparisons would improve decision making. More needs to be done to improve governance oversight in some areas such as policy submissions under tight deadlines.
6. Reduce parking charges.  X  I lost the battle on this one.

My views on other hot topics

Council amalgamations. Community views must be respected. When last surveyed, residents across the Wellington region were strongly against a SuperCity type amalgamation, and even a Hutt Valley merger was not favoured by the majority. It is worth noting that many studies have found that larger councils are not more efficient, and the costs of amalgamating organisations are huge. Council has a big workload ahead to manage the critical transfer of water operations to a new entity, a pending rewrite of district plans, and the RiverLink project. So, let's approach discussions on potential amalgamation cautiously.

Update: Since writing the above pre-election, much has changed. Government has prioritised Council amalgamations and given an ultimatum; tell us how you want it to happen, or we will do it for you. Hutt City Council chose the former and after discussing priorities for local protection with members of the community, supported the submission of an outline proposal to amalgamate the metro councils in the Wellington region.

Petone parking. I voted against the introduction of paid parking in Petone. I'm open to considering it in the future, but not at a time when cost of living concerns are high, retailers are suffering, and further Jackson Street disruption is planned for pipe replacements. Our City deserves vibrant retail centres. I will push for a review of parking charges in Petone, and the CBD, given the negative impacts some of our shops are experiencing.

Water meters. I was not originally a supporter, as alternate options to secure water supply were more economic. Things have changed due to population growth and the huge increase in the cost of new infrastructure. Waters meters are now an essential part of future planning.

Regional water entity (Tiaki Wai). I've supported the plan to form a new, asset-owning water entity for our metro region. This will enable more borrowing and help fund needed infrastructure works. However, it is concerning that councils are transferring operations running at large losses. The new entity will start on the back foot, having to raise water charges substantially just to balance their books. This makes it all the more important that Hutt City Council reduces rates fairly (i.e. by 40%) when it is no longer responsible for water services.

While it's shocking to most, I'm not surprised by the size of the increases in water charges Tiaki Wai is already signalling. The prices we have been paying for each water services asset replacement havemore than trebled. Unless substantial procurement efficiencies are secured, it is inevitable that charges for water services will rise proportionately. 

Māori wards. Effective Māori representation is important. As the Hutt has been well served by Māori councillors in recent years, I was equally balanced been the pros and cons of requiring a separate Māori Ward and abstained from the initial vote. An otherwise unanimous decision to have a Māori Ward was passed by the city's elected representatives. That's democracy, and I support that decision, which has now been confirmed via a binding referendum. I see significant benefits in having our new Māori Ward councillor, Te Awa Puketapu, adding her experience and knowledge to the Council governance team.

Private property issues. Central, regional and local government all impose rules that restrict private property rights, often for important reasons (e.g. ensuring a minimum level of earthquake resilience and safety). At times Councils impose designations that restrict property rights for the enjoyment of others. Examples are heritage designations on residential homes and restricting development of locations identified as significant natural areas. Any rules of this nature should only be considered in full discussion with those affected. That discussion should be supported by a balanced cost/benefit assessment, favour voluntary adoption, and have addressed the issue of compensation for associated losses. Unfortunately, this has not always occurred.

Speed limits. I was against the intention to introduce a 30kph speed limit for the large majority of Hutt streets. Fortunately, this requirement disappeared following the change in government.