Housing, Parks & Indoor Recreation next in 10-Year Plan Scrutiny

Council scrutiny of all its business as part of developing a 10-Year Plan for
Hamilton, this week focuses on housing, parks and open spaces and indoor
recreation.

The meetings are the second and third of seven which are reviewing the entire
business of Council as part of its drive to make operational savings of $14.5
million in order to keep the city’s debt under control.

At its Tuesday 27 September meeting Council will be considering a range of
recommendations from staff which would see savings of $1.1 million from the
Parks and Open Spaces area. These include stopping the Gully Restoration
Programme, reducing street and park tree plantings, minor reductions in
mowing, flower bed planting, rubbish bin collections and toilet servicing, and
increasing park fees and charges. Investigation of improving visitors’ experience
of Hamilton Gardens is also recommended.

At the same meeting Indoor Recreation services will be scrutinised, with a
$30,000 reduction in Council’s grant to the YMCA considered, alongside
recommendation for developing a business case for funding a new indoor
recreation facility for the north of the city at Avalon Drive (Wintec Campus).
Housing for Older People will be under the spotlight at Council’s Friday 30
September meeting, where a range of rental increases for tenants of Council’s
housing are proposed, to bring them into line with that paid by tenants of
similar housing at other Councils.

In addition, it is proposed to sell all of Council’s 24 housing complexes for older
people. Three complexes which are older, of lower standard and harder to
tenant are recommended to be sold on the open market. The remaining 21
complexes are recommended for selling to a sympathetic housing provider with conditions that the housing for older people continue at a similar level of service
and cost to tenants for an agreed time.

The decisions made at both meetings will feed into the draft 10-Year Plan which
the public will formally have their say on from March next year. In the meantime
the public can share their views by speaking at a 30 minute Public Forum at the
start of each Council meeting, as well as commenting at an online forum at
http://getinvolved.hcc.govt.nz/smartthinking

Council Chief Executive Barry Harris says: “These recommendations from staff
present Council with tough decision making around some key areas of service
provided to Hamiltonians, particularly our older residents.

“Council has asked us to suggest ways of meeting the financial goals they wish
to achieve for the city, and I have no doubt they will rigorously debate our
recommendations at the two 10-Year Plan meetings this week.”