I'm looking forward to meeting Rodney Hide next week to
discuss the role of local government.
He believes local Councils should stick to their core
responsibilities of roads, footpaths, rubbish, sewage and
drainage.
My view is what's the point of having perfect roads,
footpaths, drains etc if there are no people to use them?
Invercargill was for 30 years the fastest declining city in
New Zealand or Australia.
We had to actually do something or we would die.
The City Council joined its partners on the Trusts and we set
about launching a huge reconstruction programme.
The Inner City Upgrade; Splash Palace; Stadium Southland and
the Velodrome, as well as social and job creation projects
such as Zero Fee education; Hollywood movies and industrial
parks.
Of course 80% of our money goes into the works and parks
budget for Council.
It always has and it probably always will.
It costs us a million dollars a year just to run Queens Park;
over a million to run Splash Palace; over $3 million to run
our libraries and about a million to run the Civic Theatre.
But what's the point of a sterile city full of perfect drains
and roads if you don't have art, culture, sport, music,
education, housing for the elderly, international events and
movies?
If you want an enriching lifestyle then we need local
facilities and Councils have always played a major role in
developing a healthy happy community.
