Waimakariri election candidates tackle crime, healthcare and the cost of living
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Waimakariri election candidates sparred over the issues of crime, healthcare and the economy during a meeting at Pegasus.
Matt Doocey (National), Dan Rosewarne (Labour) and Gordon Malcolm (Democracy NZ) were quizzed by the local residents' association in front of a crowd of 80 at Pegasus Bay School on Wednesday evening.
Doocey said National planned to amend the Sentencing Act to ensure offenders served their time in prison.
"Too often people commit crimes and go through the courts, but they can get a number of discounts and then end up going into home detention.
"Judges will only be able to discount up to 40% of sentences."
Malcolm said police were under "huge pressure" and needed more resourcing so they could be more visible on the frontline.
Meanwhile, Rosewarne presented police data showing robberies had reduced in the Waimakariri district, reflecting national trends.
"I have regular meetings with the local police district commander and he said police were getting tired of opposition parties using law and order.
"They are worried about the hysteria it is creating. Crime is not out of control."
Labour has promised to recruit 300 more police to reduce the pressure, while also providing more mental health resourcing.
On the health front, Doocey said the Waimakariri district needed after hours healthcare to support the growing population.
"The PHOs (primary health organisation) requirement for after hours care is compliant if you live within a 40-minute drive.
"But that doesn’t take into account housing density, so we have advocated for high growth areas like Rangiora and Kaiapoi."
There was a shortage of GPs, but National is proposing to open a third medical school targeted at recruiting GPS for rural and provincial areas.
Malcolm said faster training pathways were needed for nurses and medical school quotas for GPs needed to be increased.
Rosewarne said there was a global shortage of nurses.
"The opposition parties seem to forget we have just had a global pandemic where 100,000 medical professionals around the world died during Covid," he said.
"The United Kingdom, Europe and the United States are all screaming out for nurses, but the world is playing catch up due to Covid."
Labour is investing in health infrastructure, has abolished prescription charges and is promising free dental care for under 30s, he said.
The cost of living also came up in the meeting.
Doocey said the government needed to get on top of inflation and interest rates with "prudent financial discipline".
Debt had risen from $5 billion to $100b over the last six years and was now 43% of GDP, he said.
However, Rosewarne said the latest credit rating from Standard & Poors showed New Zealand was in a strong economic position with "a modest level of debt" compared to other countries.
Inflation was coming down, wages were rising and more New Zealanders were in employment than ever before, he said.
■ Public interest journalism funded through New Zealand on Air.
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Waimakariri district plan faces more delays amid changing rules
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Changing Government legislation is causing headaches for council staff, as Waimakariri’s new District Plan is set to be delayed again.
Waimakariri District Council development planning manager Matt Bacon said he was relieved when the last of the public hearings ended last week.
But with final council reports due on December 13, staff will have just two working days to present the final District Plan on December 17. A district plan helps to control and manage the development of the district or city.
‘‘We are working through what it looks like and we will update the council at its meeting on December 3,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘But we will likely seek another extension from the environment minister and the Resource Management Act (RMA) minister.’’
The council first notified its draft District Plan in September 2021, but within months legislation was introduced with new medium density residential housing standards (MDRS).
‘‘We needed to call for further submissions and we had to create a separate hearing panel to consider the plan variations to allow for the MDRS,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘We have tried to merge the process as much as possible, as well as looking at re-zoning and incorporating other new legislation.’’
When the draft plan was first notified there was no National Policy Statement (NPS) for Indigenous Biodiversity, but an NPS was introduced - and then replaced.
The Natural and Built Environment Act came into being last year and then repealed, and then there is the NPS on Urban Development and the Greater Christchurch Spatial Plan.
The Government is now working on more RMA reforms and Environment Canterbury is working on the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement.
And then there is the Fast-Track Approvals Bill, which includes three proposed housing developments in Waimakariri - two of them outside of the future urban development areas identified in the Greater Christchurch Spatial Plan.
All three housing developments in the Bill have been included in submissions to the District Plan, including a proposed 850-home development at Ohoka, near Rangiora, which is also subject to an Environment Court appeal.
‘‘We haven’t seen the detail, so whether it is the same proposals, we don’t know, but they are different processes so we have to just keep doing what we are doing, until we are told otherwise,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘It might just be a timing thing, but we just don’t know.’’
Bacon said delaying the District Plan until new legislation is in place is not an option.
‘‘We are looking at what we can control and having a watching brief, and we will look at transitional timings because we don’t always have to immediately change planning documents when new legislation comes in.’’
Planning manager Wendy Harris said navigating changing Government legislation is a normal part of council planning work.
‘‘If we waited we wouldn’t do anything and we would go nowhere.’’
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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