My Priorities.
Economic development.
The city’s economy is vital to the wellbeing of the region. To build an inclusive and thriving future, we need to stimulate local commerce while encouraging investment and job creation.
If re-elected, I would support:
Delivering value-for-money decisions for ratepayers.
Diversifying the Council’s revenue streams.
Attracting investment to expand and support existing local businesses.
Attracting investment to establish and support new local businesses.
Minimising regulations and compliance costs for businesses.
Partnering with local businesses to grow high quality jobs.
Continuing to encourage and host cultural and sporting events.
Increasing long-term creative sector investment.
Housing.
Housing is becoming more and more unaffordable. House prices in Palmy grew by 27.3% in the past year to an average of $680,000 – the need for emergency housing is growing as is the rate of homelessness.
If re-elected, I would:
Strongly advocate for Council to continue as a social housing provider.
Encourage partnerships with Central Government, Kainga Ora and other housing providers to ease access for first-home buyers.
Encourage Council to continue reviewing its land holdings and make more land readily available for homes.
Push to increase the supply of medium and high-density housing.
Advocate to streamline regulatory and consenting processes to make it easier for developers to build houses.
Infrastructure.
At present 90,500 people call Palmy home. It is projected the population will reach 100,000 by 2030, and 108,000 by 2043. That kind of growth brings many challenges - transport, congestion, housing provision and affordability, recreational amenities, supportive infrastructure, and environmental degradation. For Palmy to be the vibrant, accessible, attractive and well-connected city of the future, we need to be smart about where and how we expand.
If re-elected, I plan to:
Advocate for more investment in our core infrastructure so city growth can be accommodated in a timely and innovative way.
Support inclusive urban design that takes into consideration the needs of our elderly and make Palmy a more disability-friendly city.
Support the Council’s inner ring-road project to improve road safety and remove heavy vehicles from our suburban streets.
Invest more resources into fixing potholes and maintaining footpaths.
The environment.
Cleaner rivers and greener spaces are essential to making our city a better place to live, work, and raise a family.
If re-elected, I would:
Work to strengthen Council’s relationship with iwi, Horizons, Manawatū District Council, and other territorial authorities to focus on cleaning our river.
Support pragmatic, sensible solutions to better manage our wastewater, as well as protect and restore our city’s biodiversity.
Advocate for attractive, safe, and accessible spaces, recreation areas, parks and walkways for leisure, sporting and outdoor activities.
Promote energy efficiency and conservation.
Strengthen our Emergency Management preparedness and climate contingency planning.
Work to improve the resilience of our infrastructure.
Take urgent action to achieve emissions reduction targets within the timeframes we have committed to.
MY POSITION ON THREE WATERS
Palmerston North’s existing Three Waters infrastructure (fresh, waste and storm) has been bought and paid for by generations of city ratepayers. I do not believe that central agency control of these assets, while removing the voice of local communities, is a solution to the current and future challenges.