Councillors explore Gateway opportunity

Kāpiti Coast District Mayor K Gurunathan and a small group of councillors met with Council staff yesterday to continue their discussions and deepen their understanding of the Kāpiti Gateway proposal.

Mayor K Gurunathan says this project has the potential to deliver a number of benefits for the Kāpiti Coast community and councillors are committed to taking the time to fully understand the proposal before making a decision on whether or not to proceed with this project at this time.

“The Local Government Act requires Council to consider both the social, cultural, environment and economic aspects of this project. This includes how it aligns with supporting strategies and plans such Toitū Kāpiti – the Council’s Long term plan 2018-38 and the Maclean Park Management Plan.”

Councillor and business and jobs portfolio holder Angela Buswell says while much of the public focus to date has been on the economic aspects of this project there is a lot of information contained in Indicative Business Case that was developed to support the Council’s application to the Provincial Growth Fund that councillors would like to explore in more detail.

“This includes making sure we fully understand the primary purpose of the proposed Gateway, how this will benefit our community and taking a look at the variables that were used to model the proposed operating costs of the centre,” Councillor Buswell said.

“It’s important to remember that the idea of establishing a visitor experience at Maclean Park is not new – it has been talked about in our community for 28 years.

“The Gateway won’t just be a bio-security hub, it will provide a place for our everyone in our community, young and old, to come together and enjoy views out to the beach and the Island. It will celebrate our deep local history and provide cultural and environmental educational opportunities for our rangatahi.

“But most importantly it will provide a focal point for visitors and will add to the vibrancy of the Paraparaumu Beach offering.”

Councillors Buswell, McCann, Halliday, Holborow, Handford and the Mayor will meet with Council staff again next week to discuss the Indicative Business Case in more detail.

Council votes to retain STV voting system

Kāpiti Coast District Councillors today passed a resolution to retain the Single Transferrable Voting (STV) voting system for Kāpiti Coast local body elections.

There are two electoral systems in use for local body elections in New Zealand – STV and First Past the Post (FPP). Under the Local Electoral Act 2001 local authorities must carry out a Representation Review, this includes a review of their voting system, every six years.

The STV system is a form of preferential voting. Electors have a single vote and rank candidates in the order they prefer. STV was used by 14% of local authorities in 2019 (11 out of 78) including the Kāpiti Coast District Council.

Kāpiti Coast District Council Electoral Officer, Katrina Shieffelbein, says the Kāpiti Coast District has used the STV system for every local body election since the option first became available in 2004.

“Today’s decision means that the Council will continue to use the Single Transferable Voting system as the preferred electoral system for the next two triennial elections, and any associated election. This includes the upcoming Waikanae Community Board by-election.”

Council’s decision to retain the STV system will be publicly notified by 19 September 2020 in accordance with statutory requirements including the public’s right to demand a poll on this decision.

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