Responding to Wellington City Council pausing the Golden Mile revamp after warnings the cost could blow out from $139m to $220m, Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance Spokesman James Ross said:

“It’s not normal for projects to regularly overshoot their budgets by 60 percent anywhere except local government. Every idea Wellington City Council touches blows out because its capital budgeting process is unfit for purpose. What’s being done to fix this underlying failure at council?”

“Years of disruption will shutter Wellington’s CBD. Residents don’t want that or the $2,750-per-household price tag they’ll have to pay for the privilege, and it doesn’t take a six-figure review to tell you that.”

“The new council were half-right to pause the Golden Mile. Now’s the time to can the project entirely, alongside other failed money sinks like the $4,000-per-household Town Hall fiasco.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out the $36,599 cost of Wellington City Council’s swearing-in event, including $3250 for “pōwhiri cultural services/entertainment” and $3500 on “plant hire” which Mayor Andrew Little has refused to comment on.

Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance Spokesman, James Ross, said:

“Ratepayers voted for a mayor who promised to get “a firmer grip on council spending to keep rates down.” Yet before they’ve gotten into the chamber, tens of thousands have already been spent on a victory party.”

“Wellingtonians are sick of seeing their money spent on non essentials. While there’s much bigger fish to fry like the Golden Mile and Town Hall spend-ups, this certainly doesn’t paint the picture of a strong start.”

“With rates spiralling 47 percent on average over the last three years and people leaving the city in droves, Wellington now needs a low cost, disciplined council that prioritises growing the city rather than prioritising ways to spend money on itself.”

Responding to The Post’s coverage of the damage tens of millions of dollars of ‘improvements’ have done to Thorndon Quay, Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“Wellingtonians are tired of paying hundreds of dollars per household to make the city a worse place to live.”

“Shuttered shops and closed cafes suck the life out of our city. With $1,700-per-household already lined up to turn the Golden Mile into a building site, Thorndon Quay is just the start.”

“Council needs to pull the plug before Golden Mile contracts are signed next month. Otherwise we can forget her $7,000 portrait, Wellington’s empty CBD will be more than enough of a monument to Tory Whanau’s time in office.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance says proposals to cut 63 roles at Wellington City Council are a necessary step to rein in the back-office bloat, but they don’t go far enough.

Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance Spokesman, James Ross, said:

“Wellington Council’s wage bill has exploded 40 percent is just five years, and the number of salaries over $200,000 has jumped from 17 to 39. A little trim off the top isn’t going to cut it.”

“Half of the 63 roles on the line are already vacant. Ratepayers will only believe Council is serious about savings when it tackles its own ballooning layers of management and waste.”

“Rates have increased 47 percent in just three years, and even then core services are falling apart. Ratepayers need a lean council focussed on getting the basics right, not more six-figure executives finding inventive new ways to waste money.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is criticising today’s revelation in The Post that the cost of fixing greater Wellington’s water network needs an extra $2.6 billion across the next decade to fund the region’s new water company.

Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“The chickens are coming home to roost from decades of poor investment decisions. And the costs are mounting fast.”

“Decades of poor management and misguided focus on nice-to-haves have brought us to the point where Wellington is an increasingly unaffordable, unattractive place to live. .”

“Not to mention the incompetence of the senior staff who have looked the other way as contractors run the show, staff don’t turn up to work and the pipes continue to spew water across the city.”

“The old Wellington Water model has failed to deliver on affordability resulting in pipework costing three times more than necessary and huge blowouts for the Moa Point plant."

“With council elections less than two months away, would-be councillors need to brush up on the looming financial crisis across the region so they can knuckle down on scrapping these vanity projects.” 

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is criticising an additional reported $80 million cost increase for the Moa Point sludge treatment project.

Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman James Ross said:

“When was the last time Wellington City Council ran a major project that didn’t blow its budget? The Town Hall project ballooned from $43 million to $329 million, and with a 2.4-times increase from $200 million to $480 miion, Moa Point is on exactly the same track.”

“Whether it’s Moa Point, the Town Hall, a $2.3 million toilet, or a $560,000 bike rack, the issue is the same: mismanagement, overruns, and no consequences.”

“Council staff are overseeing failure after failure - but where’s the accountability? Until project managers start getting the sack for failing to deliver value for ratepayers, nothing will change at Wellington City Council.”

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance is welcoming today’s decision by Wellington City councillors to reject council officers’ proposals for a $5,000-per-metre waterfront fencethat would have an overall cost of $30 million.

Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance said:

“This is a win for transparency, accountability, and ratepayers. Councillors deserve credit for standing up to staff pressure and putting a stop to a fence that was completely out of touch with public priorities.”

“When you shine a light on waste, things change. This backdown proves why we need to do what we do.”

Wellington Ratepayers' Alliance spokesman James Ross spoke to TVNZ's Breakfast to talk about Wellington's looming underinsurance crisis, and how owning 44 earthquake-prone buildings has the city's finances on the edge.

These buildings - including the Town Hall which has cost each Wellington household $4,000 each - are underinsured by $1.8 billion. If an earthquake hits, each household will be stung with costs of around $22,500.

Council needs to sell off buildings it doesn't need - and we don't need five or six concert venues on the books.

As James put it, "being in an earthquake-prone city means Council has to be more realistic about what we can afford, not less."

The Wellington Ratepayers' Alliance have launched, and we're fighting for Fairer Rates, Better Services, and More Transparency!

Rates across the region have spiralled over the last three years, and show no sign of slowing down.

In just three years, rates have increased:

• 54.67 percent at Greater Wellington Regional Council
• 47.03 percent at Wellington City Council
• 46.92 percent at Upper Hutt City Council
• 44.66 percent at Hutt City Council
• 35.05 percent at Kapiti Coast District Council
• 33.45 percent at Porirua City Council

Residents from across the Greater Wellington region have got together to say 'enough is enough'. No more wasteful spending, vanity projects and closed-door council meetings. Ratepayers pay the bills, so ratepayers need to be councils' first priorities.

Join the fight back at WellingtonRatepayers.nz/volunteer