by Geoffrey Churchman

The 2022 elections in October last year took place amid the background of the Labour government’s plans to destroy as much local democracy as possible and replace it with centralised planning committees run by political appointees of Ministers and favoured Iwi elites. The most infamous of these was Mahuta’s ‘3 Waters’ infrastructure looting which was opposed by most of the councils in the country (although not by Kapiti). That wasn’t all; town planning was being taken over, too.

The frontrunner to replace Guru as mayor, Gwynn Comption, told me he couldn’t see the point in leading a council that was only going to be responsible for streets, parks, reserves and libraries. He didn’t seek election again, which left Labour Party hack Janet Holborow to win the mayoralty by a slim margin over then Cr Rob McCann. The one positive thing that can be said about Holborow is that unlike her predecessor she has a pleasant clear speaking voice. Otherwise it has meant political rhetoric and practices I can’t abide.

The Labour Party also poked its nose into the elections as part of the campaign by the scurrilous Stuffers to identify those who had opposed Comrade Jacinda’s compulsory jabbing with an unproven and dangerous substance, claiming these people wanted to make NZ ungovernable! Despite that, I know of at least one Councilor and 3 Community Board members who opposed it and got elected regardless.

The biggest issue a year ago was the fate of the outgoing mayor’s vanity project, the Guru Gateway. Glen Cooper in the Paraparaumu Ward made his opposition to it the main feature of his campign, as did Martin Halliday — both were elected — and only $1.5 million later, the propsal was scrapped this year.

The main positive development in Kapiti last year was the departure of the awful Chief Executive Wayne Maxwell, who ran the show like a tinpot dictator, and his replacement with Darren Edwards whose style is the complete opposite and is well liked.

The Guru Gateway has now been scrapped, and instead the new Waikanae Library has been advanced. The promised superloo in Waikanae’s Aputa Place has been installed and the clocktower finally works!

For Waikanae there are still several other gripes, however. What has happened for the plan for a roundabout at the Te Moana Road/Rauparaha Street interesection? What about a reno/replacement for the Waikanae Beach community hall? What about beautification of the Main Road instead of the uglification that the NZTA has given it? And what happened to that pretty brownstone wall on the Main Road that was going to be rebuilt elsewhere? What about the recycling centre at the west end of Waikanae Park that Wayne Maxwell closed with the help of sycophantic councilors? What about the extra amentities at Waikanae Park? (One of them, the small BMX cycle track did happen).

Thankfully, the decisive defeat of the Labour government means that there is now certainty over the water systems infracture — it will stay in local hands and the council can get on with needed works. Labour’s new planning rules hopefully will be reversed, we might see that extra school in Waikanae that Labour promised in 2020, and also see extended commuter trains to Otaki, Levin and Palmerston North.

It would be great if the Climate Cultists could desist over ‘Managed Retreat’ and the unnecessary Paekakariki seawall scrapped. All we need are more large boulders or concrete blocks in parts of the Raumati and Paekakariki shores in case of storm surges. In Waikanae we don’t need anything.

The Rates impost on locals won’t ease (there is too much accumulated debt from the Dougherty and Maxwell years and there are still too many central government requirements that must be complied with that require staff and too much general stuffing around), but the future looks a little brighter for Kapiti people than it did.