Concerns about growth see new fees trimmed

By Grant Johnston

Waipa Mayor Alan Livingston may have missed the first two days of this week’s policy committee meeting, but he was there in time to make a vital and telling contribution yesterday.

The meeting was considering submissions on the Long Term Council Community Plan, including the introduction of a new Development Contributions Policy.

Mr Livingston was absent on Monday and Tuesday attending son Andrew’s graduation from Massey University. But at yesterday’s meeting he put up an ‘11th hour’ motion to provide a 30% reduction in wastewater and water contributions for new sections in Te Awamutu and Kihikihi for the next three years.

It certainly did not achieve unanimous support from fellow councillors, but at six votes to five enough to shave just over $3000 off the development contributions fees for Te Awamutu and Kihikihi (per the interim decision).

Mr Livingston said he had some concerns about the estimated monies required in these two areas for wastewater and water capital expenditure - not so much the amounts as the timing of when they will be needed.

Crs Errol Newlands and Diane Sharpe had already tried earlier in yesterday’s meeting to provide some relief for Te Awamutu and Kihikihi subdividors from the fees they would be facing (originally set at $23,865 and $21,596 respectively).

“These are two areas of the district where Council has been wanting to promote more growth - it seems a shame they will face among the highest fees,” Cr Sharpe said.

Cr Newlands said he was uneasy at the prospect that the development fees might mean that in 20 years everyone would look back and see massive growth in Cambridge and virtually none in Te Awamutu. This was based on the higher section prices in Cambridge meaning developers could ‘wear’ higher fees.

But motions to provide one flat fee across the district at $16,791 (by Cr Newlands) and a 30% subsidy on the total fee (by Cr Sharpe) were lost, before Mr Livingston’s motion found the required amount of support.

Cr Graham Webber was the most vocal opponent of altering the fees as originally proposed.

“It’s a matter of the integrity of the figures as we have put them to the people.“

Cr Webber said he could not go back to his rural ratepayers (in Maungatautari Ward) and tell them that developers in Te Awamutu and Kihikihi would be getting a 30% discount.

The meeting was ongoing as this edition went to press, but the interim decision had been made confirming the figures - including revised Te Awamutu and Kihikihi figures of $20,837 and $18,520 respectively and $11,340 for rural areas without reticulated services.