Greater Wellington Regional Council has joined the Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance in calling for a referendum before any council amalgamation can proceed.

Responding to council chairperson Daran Ponter’s statement that any amalgamation must be co-designed with the people who get the final say through a referendum, Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“Ratepayers pay the bills, so ratepayers should decide what their local government looks like. Daran Ponter has hit the nail on the head, and the region’s mayors should now join him in demanding a referendum before any amalgamation.”

“Local Government Minister Simon Watts’ willingness to force through council mergers is the sticking point. He needs to guarantee that residents, not politicians and bureaucrats, will have the final say.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is slamming Tiaki Wai after residents have been billed for water services for basement car parks and other properties with no meaningful water connection, with the organisation blaming shortcomings on its systems.

Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“Ratepayers were promised separate billing meant more efficiency. Instead, Tiaki Wai is sending bills to car parks and properties that barely use a drop.”

“Billing basement car parks with with tiny taps as though they’re family homes is beyond ridiculous. If Tiaki Wai lacks the systems to tell which properties use water, that’s on them. Residents shouldn’t have to eat the cost of their administrative failures.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is welcoming the Government’s consultation on slashing heritage red tape across Wellington.

Alliance spokesperson, James Ross, said:

“Heritage rules on old rusty gas tanks aren’t free, and residents bear the costs. Slashing red tape could unblock hundreds of new homes, jobs, and construction activity valued at around $3,500 per every Wellington household.”

“This consultation is a chance to scrap any restrictions that aren’t targeted, reasonable, and cost-effective. Wellington needs a planning system that respects history without costing the city its future.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is welcoming Wellington City Council’s proposal to trim up to 50 roles across its climate, comms, planning, property and events teams, but says it barely scratches the surface.

An independent Deloitte review has already identified 330 excess roles and potential savings of up to $79 million.

Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“This is a welcome first step, but it’s barely 15 percent of the excess council staff that have already been identified.”

“The Deloitte review laid out a pathway to save the equivalent of 15,509 average household rates bills. Council needs to stop cherry-picking and deliver long-overdue savings for ratepayers.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is warning ratepayers not to take talk of amalgamation savings at face value, following The Post’s coverage of a MartinJenkins report today.

Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“MartinJenkins’ own report warns that amalgamation savings are often overestimated and delayed, transition costs underestimated, and any efficiencies swallowed up with new spending instead of being returned to ratepayers.”

“South Australia promised savings of 17 percent and delivered just 2 percent. Queensland’s cost increases wiped out any initial gains. Fifteen years after the Auckland Supercity was established, staffing is higher than under the former councils, and the promised review has never been delivered.”

“Ratepayers’ money should not be gambled on the basis of savings that may never materialise. Any amalgamation proposal must be put to a referendum.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling on Wellington City Council to scrap the Golden Mile for good, after the Council’s own review confirmed the project’s business case has collapsed.

The scheme lurched from a $78 million budget to an estimated $220 million. The Council has voted today to investigate a scaled-back version of the same project with a budget of $20-$40 million.

Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman, James Ross, said:

“Mayor Andrew Little says Wellington needs urban renewal, but banning cars and adding some ornamental shrubbery to the Golden Mile is meaningless if the Council has hollowed out the CBD.”

“Wellington already has the highest commercial rates in the country and the second-highest residential rates. The number of households needing hardship assistance to pay their rates bill has increased by 150 percent in two years. Council is pricing out the people and businesses that give Wellington life, and that’s what’s keeping the Capital down.”

“Spending another $500 per household on salvaging Tory Whanau’s legacy project while businesses shutter and residents leave is a waste of good ratepayer money. If the Council wants urban renewal, it should start by making life in Wellington affordable again.”

Responding to reports criticising Tiaki Wai’s water meter cost estimates, Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“Roughly $4,000 per household for water meters is outrageous."

“Tiaki Wai says these were early indicative costs, but they were so clearly excessive they should never have been published. Infrastructure Commission Chair Raveen Jaduram is right to question them and point to better alternatives."

“If Watercare can roll out smart meters across Auckland at a fraction of the cost to households, and a private individual can price a basic meter and installation at under $300, why is Tiaki Wai starting with numbers as high as $4,000 per household?

“These inflated figures raise serious concerns that Tiaki Wai has inherited the same poor cost-control culture as its predecessor. Wellingtonians were promised efficiencies from merged water services, but these numbers suggest the same old waste in a bigger bureaucracy."

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance says Wellingtonians are being denied the representation they voted for, after Councillor Karl Tiefenbacher was barred from voting on whether to continue the Golden Mile despite being elected on a promise to end the fiasco.

Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson James Ross said:

“Wellingtonians voted for change. Barring councillors such as Karl Tiefenbacher from delivering the mandate they were elected on makes a mockery of local democracy.”

“Conflict of interest rules should protect ratepayers from councillors lining their own pockets, not silence representatives trying to deliver what voters asked for.”

“If councillors cannot vote on the issues they campaigned on, what exactly were Wellingtonians voting for? Ratepayers deserve a system that respects the election result, not one hiding behind process to keep this $2,750-per-household white elephant alive.”

Wellington City Council spent $29,000 of ratepayer money on Climate Festival Pōneke, featuring food workshops, bike rides, and community events, the Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance can reveal through an official information request.

This is the latest example of questionable council climate spending. For instance, the Climate Sustainability Fund has previously funded:

• $90,000 for a Māori lunar calendar
• $21,000 for low-carbon cooking videos
• $69,000 for LGBTQ+ bike workshops
• $20,000 for plant-based cooking events.

Responding to the cost of the festival, Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“People don’t pay rates so councils can sponsor bike rides, composting lessons, and Easter egg hunts. They pay them for roads, pipes, and playgrounds.”

“Every dollar council spent on this festival came from Wellington ratepayers, yet the Council can’t even tell us the cost of the staff time devoted to organising it.”

“Wellington City Council spending tens of thousands of dollars on festivals isn’t going to save the planet and won’t reduce New Zealand’s emissions by even a gram, as New Zealand has an Emissions Trading Scheme.”

“Council should focus on flood protection, stormwater upgrades, and infrastructure resilience where it can actually make a difference, instead of wasting money on feel-good workshops.”