By Andrew Bydder, Hamilton City Councillor
Councils are out of control. Not just Hamilton City, but across the Waikato. The truth is in the numbers. On Three Waters alone, they have collectively projected $7.5 billion in costs over the next decade. Divided across the Waikato population of 320,000, that is $23,438 per person.
But a quarter of that population live in rural areas with their own water tanks and septic systems, who rightly won’t be paying for services that they don’t have. This leaves the figure for a typical family of four in our towns and city at a crippling $125,000.
Can you afford that?
After two years on council, it has become clear that few councillors appear to fully comprehend these large numbers, or more importantly their implications for ratepayers. Unfortunately, I am the only person on Hamilton City Council with a property and engineering background, having designed and built entire subdivisions with roads and drains. This would suggest to me that the political wing of councils are functionally incompetent.
This lack of relevant expertise means councils rely on staff. However, relying on staff could be viewed as akin to the definition of madness, that is: “doing the same thing again and again while hoping for different results”. This is because while ratepayers may be able to change a few politicians every three years, the staff remain. This means there is here a lack of democracy and accountability. Worse than that, I have personally seen cases where if private citizens criticise the council, they get targeted. I have notified the Waikato Times of two cases so far this year.
This general lack of accountability is leading to poor decisions and waste, driving the current massive rates increases. Around the corner from my home, Waipa District Council is digging up a new roundabout it finished two months ago to put in four raised crossings, despite the government telling councils not to do this. Not only is this yet another waste of money, it has resulted in a lack of public consultation and transparency. Had the crossings been included in the original design, the public could have opposed the roundabout. Now it is being done within separate budgets as minor works without the full requisite consent from the people.
Thankfully there are simple solutions. The way councils manage projects seems to be designed to make everything cost at least twice as much. In the case of Auckland’s $263,000 concrete steps and Wellington’s $563,000 bike rack, project costs can be over a hundred times what most would consider reasonable.
Again the solutions exist. In relation to three waters there are engineering solutions, such as micro treatment plants that greatly reduce the cost of treating sewage and can be located in each suburb. Unfortunately for Hamilton, the council has just finished spending an eye-watering sum on pumping sewage from one end of the city to the other, so it can budget $500 million to expand the Pukete wastewater treatment plant.
I will be blunt. I am a successful businessman. I can afford to pay. You can’t. I can halve the cost, if I am allowed to. Most of you still couldn’t afford that, and they won’t allow me to do it anyway.
“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say” – George Martin.
It is up to you ‘the people’ to take back control of the councils, or pay the price.
[The content of any Opinion pieces represents the views of the author and the accuracy of any content in a post labelled Opinion is the responsibility of the author. Posting of this Opinion content on the CityWatch NZ website does not necessarily constitute endorsement of those views by CityWatch NZ or its editors. CityWatch NZ functions to provide information and a range of different perspectives on New Zealand’s cities and local councils. If you disagree with or dispute the content, CityWatch NZ can pass that feedback on to the author. Send an email to feedback@citywatchnz.org and clearly identify the content and the issue.]
