It’s critical that whatever is done, the wellbeing of the nearly 10,000 people who live there is considered as much as the money.
Our sense of home and shared spaces is bound intimately into our health — physical and mental — and our opportunity for fulfilled lives, individually and together.
Perhaps some of this money might have been saved if at every local body election, the electorate hadn’t swung hard at the "keep rates low" target; meaning maintenance and smart upgrades were constantly deferred.
It’s the "wicked cycle" of voting, electing, feeling like not much is happening, building frustration, diminishing trust, lower turnout, curdling into resentment about councillor pay and public expenditure for others (some loathe the stadium, others think DPAG should charge an entrance fee), while the deferred maintenance mounts up.
Partly, it’s that most of us don’t understand how much decision-making is out of councillors’ hands, to a degree we’d never put up with in central government. It’s hard to get stuff done in local government.
But the thing is, we live here together.
The four wellbeings — social, economic, cultural, and environmental — baked into the Local Government Act really matter.
Do the bus routes make sense and is there a stop near yours? Are there speed limits outside your children’s school? Does your significantly older community have an immensely popular swimming pool for physio, exercise, connection? Are there playgrounds near your children’s home, do your kids adore reading time at the library? Is there an arts / film / music festival? Fireworks at New Year?
These are the places where we come together and are Dunedin, and what makes Dunedin a great place to live.
Yet here we are again, with government looking to remove the four wellbeings in favour of roads and water, which are somehow neutral of quiet neighbourhoods, accessible parks, safe schools, community, belonging. As if we were not people but units.
But if the DCC or ORC don’t take care of this ... who will?
If you would like to support the mission’s work with a donation, please visit www.givealittle.co.nz and search for the Methodist Mission.
