Column by Porirua City Councillor Geoff Hayward
Zero per cent rates increases.
Balanced budgets.
Riparian planting.
Council business can be really hard to interpret if you are not that knowledgeable about the terminology and processes. Explaining big moments with simple headlines does not really explain the “why”.
Today, Porirua City Council voted to approve the Annual Plan, our budget for the next 12 months. This is what we do in the years on either side of the 10-year Long Term Plan, with the next one due for review next year.
So today I want to talk about Allen, Becky, Judy and Mike.
Some of you will know Allen as a respected kaumātua in our city. He volunteers his time supporting older people in our community.
Every time I see him, his message is pretty simple: “Make the rates fairer.”
For many of our kaumātua and those on fixed incomes, every rate increase matters, because every bill matters. That is why I am proud that this Annual Plan delivers something that matters: a zero per cent rates increase for the year.
And this is not a reckless, headline-chasing decision, but one based on good advice from staff and good faith from councillors. Passing this Annual Plan means people like Allen will get a little breathing room.
Now Becky works in honouring the legacy of those who have served our country. She has a way of cutting through all the noise.
A while ago she said something to me that stuck: “It’s not about the ribbon cutting for the new thing if you didn’t pay for maintaining the old thing.”
And she is right.
For too long, local government across the motu, including Porirua, has been too willing to kick costs down the road. There have been decisions where the full cost of maintaining our infrastructure has not been properly met year by year.
And when that happens, the problem does not disappear. It accumulates, as a gap in the books and a burden on our mokopuna.
This Annual Plan changes that. We are finally dealing with a piece of unfinished business that should have been addressed years ago.
Judy grabbed me in a café just a couple of days ago to talk about the great work being done with riparian planting, and the broader impacts. She was so impressed with the mahi at Bothamley Park, and she smiled when I told her that this Annual Plan keeps that commitment alive.
Every plant we put in and every wetland we restore holds back sediment and heavy metals, giving our harbour time to breathe and heal.
During the last election I said we should plant one plant for every person in Porirua, every year. This Annual Plan means that commitment can continue.
And finally, Mike.
We all feel that absence of Councillor Mike Duncan around the council table, and we are still mourning him. It is gutting that he was not there to sign off on this.
But if I could borrow his voice for a moment, it would be to remind us that communities are built by people who show up.
In a world where plenty of people are happy to complain, attack, and tear others down online, there is still enormous value in people who are prepared to roll up their sleeves and build something better.
And to anyone who thinks leadership is measured by noise or anger, Mike would remind us that they are only fooling themselves.
The constant, uncivil attack strategy that thrives in echo chambers online has one guaranteed outcome: it breeds political cynicism and contempt.
When people attack the person and not the policy, they paint everyone around the table as self-serving, incompetent, or corrupt. When they use uncivil, personal language, they make the whole political environment feel toxic and unsafe.
We cannot please everyone who calls Porirua home. All decisions carry weight. That is the responsibility we carry. It is the price of duty.
And yet I see a Council that has tried to live up to that responsibility.
Not perfectly. Not without challenge. But deliberately and honestly.
So while next year’s Long Term Plan will be a doozy, I close by reminding myself of the people this Annual Plan is really for, and why this is important.
Mike would want us to work with integrity. Becky and Judy would want us to think beyond the next election. And Allen just wants us to look after each other.