Ten-Year plan leaves City with $424 million Plus $$$ in debt.

With the closure of the LongTerm Council Community Plan in the Strategy and Policy Committee last Thursday, Wellington City Councillors had voted to blow the city's debt out to $424 million dollars by the end of the ten year plan plus interest repayments. Debt currently stands at between $210-212 million dollars.

The Council of June 28 2006 has now confirmed the LTCCP. The latest grand scheme is a 12 court indoor stadium at Kilbirnie with a price tag of $50 millon. Ratepayers now have an undischargable mortgage to City Hall. It will also be passed on to their children.

Added to this debt is a major shift in the rates burden on to residential ratepayers as a consequence of Council's agreement with the commercial community to transfer wealth from the residents to business.

Strategy & Policy Committee Wednesday 21 June 2006
Those voting for the continued transfer of rates from commercial to residential ratepayers were:
Mayor Prendergast
Deputy Cr Shaw
Councillor Armstrong
Councillor Ahipene Mercer
Councillor Morrison
Councillor Foster
Councillor Wade-Brown
Councillor McKinnon
Councillor Wain
Councillor Goulden

Those voting against the transfer of wealth from the residents to business were;
Councillor Cook
Councillor Gill
Councillor Pepperell
Councillor Ruben

Full Council Wednesday 28th June
Voting to stop the mobile library were:
Mayor Prendergast
Councillor Armstrong
Councillor Shaw
Councillors Ahipene Mercer
Councillor Morrison
Councillor Wain
Councillor Mckinnon
Councillor Foster


Voting against were:
Councillor Cook
Councillor Gill
Councillor Pepperell
Councillor Ruben
Councillor Ritchie ( Welcome back )
Counillors Goulden
Councillor Wade-Brown

Full Council 28th June 2006
Voting to allow 5 percent of Council housing to be rented at maket value were:
Mayor Prendergast
Deputy Shaw
Councillor Armstrong exercised a casting vote against the status quo
Councillor Foster
Councillor Morrison
Councillor Wain
Councillor McKinnon
Councillor Goulden

Voting against were:
Councillor Ahipene Mercer
Councillor Cook
Councillor Gill
Councillor Pepperell
Councillor Ruben
Councillor Wade-Brown

Full Council 28th June 2006
Voting for the ( Fish Zoo) Marine Education Centre's
continued funding were:

Mayor Prendergast
Deputy Shaw
Councillor Armstrong
Councillor Ahipene Mercer
Councillor Foster
Councillor Cook
Councillor Gill
Councillor Morrison
Councillor McKinnon
Councillor Wade-Brown
Councilor Wain


Voting against were:
Councillor Pepperell
Councillor Ruben

The S&P meeting
Voting for the $50 million indoor stadium were:
Mayor Prendergast
Deputy Shaw
Councillor Armstrong
Councillors Ahipene Mercer
Councillor Cook
Councillor Gill
Councillor Goulden
Councillor Mckinnon
Councillor Morrison
Councillor Ruben
Councillor Wade-Brown
Councillor Wain

Councillor Foster abstained by leaving the room before the vote.

Voting against:
Councillor Pepperell

Full Council 28th June 2006
Motion on the Indoor Sports Centre
Moved Bryan Pepperell
Second Andy Foster
1 iv
a - as is

b - NEW - Note that a representative survey was carried out by AC Neilsen which concluded that 68% of respondents were in favour of having a new Indoor Sports Centre (13% neutral), but 58% felt that the proposed cost at $29 million was too great (34% thought it about right), and 65% thought that the proposed rate increase of 4.8% was too high (30% thought it about right).

c - old 'b' as is
d - old 'c' as is

e - REPLACEMENT for d - g.
Agree to support the construction of a new multi-court indoor sports centre subject to the report back outlined in new 'f'.

f - NEW - Establish a working party of 4-6 councillors to report back by the end of calendar 2006 in particular focussing on:
- the economic impact of a stadium
- a review of the costs of construction
- a review of the scheduling (demand) and cost sharing with users
- a review of the location
- a review of the size (8 court vs 12 court)
Voting for were:
Councillor Pepperell
Councillor Foster

Stratagey & Policy Committee 21 June 2006
Voting to double the water and sewerage charge were:
Mayor Prendergast
Councillor Armstrong
Councillor Morrison
Councillor McKinnon
Councillor Wain
Councillor Foster

Voting against were:
Councillor Cook
Councillor Gill
Councillor Pepperell
Councillor Ruben
Councillor Ahipene -Mercer
Councillor Wade-brown
Councillor Goulden
Councillor Shaw

Full Council 28 June 2006
Motion to move to income related rents for Council tenants
Moved Cr Pepperell
Seconed Mayor Prendergast Pro Forma

"Agree that Council move to income related rents for its social housing portfolio as from 1 July 2007 and that implementation work on this proposal be brought back to the Strategy and Policy Committee by December 2006"

Voting For were:
Councillor Pepperell
Councillor Ruben
Councillor Cook
Councillor Ritchie

Voting against were:
Mayor Prendergast
Councillor Shaw
Councillor Wade-Brown
Coulden Goulden
Councillor Wain
Councillor McKinnon
Councillor Morrison
Councillor Gill
Councillor Ahipene-Mercer

Voting against the Funding policy were;
Councillor Pepperell
Councillor Foster

There is more to be revealed on the LTCCP so we shall return to this later.
Cheers
Pepp

Don't take Berlin's oil Mr Bush!

 

Berlin needs oil

photo by pepptalk
Oil dependent Berlin June 2006 

The New Berlin?

After the wall came down new
buildings arose like the Phoenix from
the ashes of old East Berlin, but is
it part of an oil dependent culture? 

Berlin Reichtag

 

Berlin Wall

Berlin June 2006
Passing Check Point Charlie there was no sign
of the once infamous wall that once divided Berlin
City. We continued walking then suddenly there
they were like pieces of art, the last reminders
of a dark past. 

Wellington Residents Coalition's Petition to WCC

The Wellington Residents Coalition opposes the Wellington City Council's Long Term Council Community Plan 2006/7 -2015/16 LTCCP, with a petition of 5220 signatures collected after 3 weeks consultation with the public!

The petition opposes the LTCCP on the following points:

* The Commercial / Residential rates shift

* The doubling of the Annual Uniform General Charges or targeted rate on water and sewerage

* Failure to adequately deal with climate change and Peak Oil

* Failure to deal with the gap between the rich and the poor


This petition was drawn to the notice of Cr Bryan Pepperell and Cr Jack Ruben on Sunday the 18th of June at a meeting of the Wellington Residents Coalition which was held in Newtown Community Centre. The petition will be presented to Council this week. Councillor Pepperell said it was heartening to see so many people getting involved with the petition and he hoped that Council would respond in a positive way. The Residents Coalition has demonstrated what can happen when a proactive approach is taken - the Wellington City Council should take note.

Checkpoint Charlie Berlin 2006

Berlin's last reminder of the once divided
City but no evidence of the infamous
wall.

Amsterdam's favoured transport

Cyclists with looks of grim determination in
Amsterdam. Ironically Holland is a big user
of oil even with such intense use of bicycles.

Dave Wetzel - Labour Party Activist / Land Value Tax advocate

Dave Wetzel June 2006

Dave Wetzel spends every spare waking
moment thinking about how to achieve
a fair and just society. He probably does it
in his sleep also.

Currently employed as Vice Chair of London
Transport he brings a wealth of experience
and common sense to this vital role helping
to implement good transport policy and traffic
management for Mayor Ken Livingstone.

His other passion is tax reform and Dave firmly
believes that Land Value Tax is the only way to go
when it comes to tax reform. Land, not labour,

should be taxed in a fair and just society.

Capital gains should be returned to the community.
Land Value Tax is about the efficent use of land and
the redistribution of wealth... "The Labour Land

Campaign advocates a more equitable distribution

of the Land Values that are created by the whole

community. We are a voluntary group working

for land reform within the Labour Movement.

Our members are members of the British Labour

Party, Trade Unions and Cooperatives, or are

individuals who support our aim to share land wealth
through Land Value Taxation."

It was my great pleasure to be taken for a meal

with Dave and his wife Heather in London back

in May of this year. They are both politically active

thinking people and wonderful company. It is said

that behind every great man is a woman, Heather

fits that role but is a strong individual in her own right.
Dave is a very unassuming man with stories to
tell that are rich in anecdote and metaphor.

We will talk more about Dave Wetzel later but his

introduction to you is well overdue.

My Israeli Friends In Berlin

Get in touch guys.
Cheers
Bryan

Stained glass work in Prague Castle

Prague Castle 2006
This stained glass work in Prague
Castle is possibly without equal.
It took my breath away
on seeing it for the first time.

Gordon Brown -The U.K.'s new Prime Minister?

Gordon Brown adressing SERA

Last Friday I attended one of SERA'S ( Socialist Environment and Resources Association) events in London.

SERA believes that environmental justice is essential for social justice, and that both must be the driving force for the third term Labour government. SERA is a pioneer in bridging the social and environmental movements to produce common solutions to major issues facing the UK and the world today.
Find out more about the organization, forthcoming events, our most recent publications, and membership.

SERA's summer reception was held in London at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. The guest speaker was Gordon Brown who is Chancellor of The Exchequer in Tony Blair's Labour Government.

The Chancellor is the main contender for the position of Prime Minister, when Tony Blair steps down.

I was introduced to The Chancellor by my good friend Dave Wetzel who has been a life long Labour Party activist and is currently Vice Chair of London Transport amongst many other roles that he carries out, not the least being a spokesperson for Land Value Tax.

Gordon Brown made the sort of speech you would expect to hear from the Chancellor and it showed that labour has turned its electoral attention towards the serious issue of climate change and energy. The Chancellor will ask the World Bank to come up with the money to do urgent research into energy solutions in the post cheap oil era. That's a red light statement and the media and social commentators should be on high alert but not yet.

I was some what comforted by the tone of the Chancellor's speech as he reached a tempo where he argued that a paradigm shift would be needed to survive the challenges ahead. We face a crisis on a broad front of climate change, sustainable and energy. The Chancellor has a firm grip on the issues. The question is will he have the charisma and the political support from his colleagues and the party, and lastly but most importantly, from the electors?

Bryan Pepperell