Cr Bill Faulkner Faulkners Corner www.sunlive.co.nz

Welcome back. Council's meeting schedule for 2011 commenced this week with a second cut on the proposed annual plan for 2011/12.

At the first council meeting, elected members confirmed reductions in the next financial year's proposed plan capital expenditure programme of something like $30 million. The debt reduction programme was cut in half approximately to $5.7 million. All this is necessary to remain within debt to revenue ratios set by credit rating agency Standard and Poors. It is also prudent financial management. The folly of past councils indulging in nice-to-haves, whims and sometimes fantasy follies all added up and this year was the day of reckoning that some had known about for a long time. Of course, growth contributed, unbudgeted expenditure for emergency remedial works like the 2005 floods, and the economic downturn affecting a reduction in development contributions, all helped.
Getting Route K off council's books will help immeasurably in the financial juggling act. Once this happens, the key is to not run up more debt by any future well meaning ‘do good but fiscally irresponsible' council. There will be some consequences to these cuts and there will be some who disagree with them.
You can have your say when this draft goes to public consultation. In my experience it's the first time a scythe has been wielded and supported by all elected members and staff. Long may it continue. The city has to keep running and maintenance must not be relaxed, but we can and will mark time for a while. Rate revenue increase will still be around an unpalatable 10 per cent increase as the chickens come home to roost.

Smooth running
Of course the city runs on in the interim and things have gone smoothly over the holiday period with many positive comments over the New Year's Eve proceedings. Even though they cost around $300,000, it is an investment for our city's future compared to the cost, grief and bad publicity of the riots of yesteryear. TV still runs footage of that one riot at the Mount which was 10 years ago.

She's watertight
Last weekend's downpour was adequately dealt with by the improvements to our stormwater system. At high tide there was some flooding on the Otumoetai Golf Course, but people were playing golf there again on Tuesday. The Historic Village didn't flood. Inevitably there will be some flooding, but the big trouble spots seem to have been dealt with. It also depends on the time/rainfall ratio.

Pulling down the top
The poor old Aspen tree (actually a cottonwood) has had a crewcut. A large limb just fell off, due to rot, and put the whole tree out of balance. Luckily the high winds forecast held off long enough to do severe pruning. It has survived surprisingly well over the years with numerous suggestions for its removal dating back to the 1930s.

Plan the journey
Over the holiday work has gone on with a view to cutting back on existing city debt and reduction and timing of future city debt. Some initiatives could see the position improve if they work out. Cutting into future capital works is a two edged sword in that if/when growth increases and infrastructure isn't there, we will find ourselves back in the same place Tauranga was in the 1980s. I'm talking about essential infrastructure here, not nice-to-haves that took priority by successive councils over the last few terms.
So it's a fine edge balance to push out planned works in order to reduce debt and the need for these works as the city grows.

Avoid traffic delays
I went down to see the first pull on the Southern Pipeline between Memorial Park and 13th Avenue this week. Called Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) this involves driving a tunnel then pulling pre welded plastic pipe through the tunnel. That is a gross oversimplification to the process involved, but to ratepayers it means minimal disruption to the city.
On the day, the pipeline of 400 metres was being pulled along nine metres at a time over six minutes. If you saw it, that was the long black pipeline laid alongside Devonport Road by Jordan Park. This technology is a far reach from the open trench laying methods of yesteryear when going uphill and down dale. Open trenching still occurs on the flat. It is council's intention to minimise disruption wherever it is reasonable and practical to do so.

No free ride
City parking management is under the spotlight and it was with some amusement a story in the news read that as soon as parking in the CBD was made ‘free' CBD workers flocked to take up the opportunity thereby denying the opportunity to customers. What a surprise! The ‘I'm alright Jack' mentality. Over the years there have been other examples of such behaviour, but we apparently need to repeat history in order to learn the same lessons. The sad reality is that user pays is the only practical solution to downtown parking.
As for the volatile subject of tickets for no rego or WOF issued by parking wardens, the harsh financial reality for the parking account (which funds all city parking) and ratepayers is that ratepayers would need to cough up about $400,000 a year to make up the shortfall if it was stopped.
By the way, council and government split the fines up 50/50, but council covers all costs. Government being really fair once again? Here's a mind bender for you. There are two quick ways to disaster: taking nobody's advice and taking everybody's advice. Something deep to contemplate there!