Make Hutt swimming pools free, says Network
Media release
VAN -- Valley Action Network
9 October,
2007
Make Hutt swimming pools free, says Valley Action
Network
Improving the health and happiness of Hutt
residents with free entry to
the city's swimming pools
is one of the innovative new ideas in VAN's
policy on
Free Council Services, released today.
The policy,
reprinted below, calls for more Council services to be free
for the user. Funding would come from rates based on
property values
and a fairer contribution from big
businesses.
"We're also drawing a line in the sand over
water meters", says VAN
organiser Grant Brookes.
"The
politicians know that water meters are unpopular. Last
month, as
voting got under way in the local body
elections, they all denied plans
to introduce
them.
"Yet just two months earlier, Councillors were
discussing the idea
round the table with the chair of
the Wellington Regional Council's
Utilities
Committee.
"All the Mayoral and Council hopefuls, apart
from VAN, say their
priority is to help business. With
the past chief executive of Business
NZ, Simon Carlaw,
now calling for water meters everywhere, what will
these
people do if they're elected?
"The Labour-led Hutt 2020
group talk up their connections to central
government.
The government's Rates Inquiry, which reported six weeks
ago, also recommended water meters for all.
"Voters
have until 12 noon on Saturday to cast their ballot for VAN
candidates who put residents first and oppose 'user
pays' across the
board."
The policy on Free Council
Services is the sixth, and final, plank of
the Valley
Action Network's platform:
* A Human City -- Putting
people before big business interests
* A Green City --
Action on climate change. Zero tolerance for polluters
*
Grassroots Democracy -- Community Boards for all, with extra
powers
* Rates Justice -- Reductions based on need.
Residents before greedy
corporations
* Free Council
Services -- Not just protected but extended
* Free and
Frequent Public Transport -- It makes climate sense and
serves the people.
More information on these policies
can be found on the VAN website,
www.huttvan.org.nz.
-------------
Free Council Services -- Not just protected but extended
"User pays"
was the mantra of the 1980s and 90s. Over and over again,
the politicians told us that it's fair to pay for all
sorts of public
services, from education and health to
the water coming out of your
tap.
But it isn't fair.
Charging everyone the same takes no account of
people's
ability to pay.
Ordinary people on lower incomes have to
spend a bigger chunk of their
earnings on these
necessary services.
User pays disadvantages families,
too, because dependent family members
need to use the
services like everyone else, but can't pay for them.
It's
really a way to cut public spending, so the rich can have
tax cuts
and rates reductions.
Today, Hutt residents
are threatened with "user pays" water meters. The
push
is coming from government and big business groups.
Water
meters are unpopular so they're dressed up as a “green”
idea, to
make people conserve a natural resource.
But
meters are a step towards privatisation. Privatising water
makes
conservation worse, not better, as greedy water
companies cut corners
on maintenance meaning more
cracked pipes and more water lost before
reaching the
home.
Despite the wave of user pays and privatisation
over the last 20 years,
some Hutt City Council services
are still free.
It doesn't cost anything to borrow books
from the library, or to visit
TheNewDowse or Petone
Settlers Museum. These popular services run
perfectly
well without any user charge.
Why not make other popular
services free, too, like swimming pools?
Manukau City
Council, for instance, recognises the benefits of swimming
pools to the whole community. Their pools are fully
funded out of
rates. Entry is free.
Hutt City pools
are currently 70 percent funded from rates. Getting rid
of door charges altogether wouldn't cost much and would
increase the
number of people using them.
This makes
sense, as there's a lot of ratepayers' money invested in the
pools and they're almost empty for much of the
day.
Making more Council services free to use -- funded
by rates -- goes
hand in hand with fighting for Rates
Justice so big corporations start
paying their share of
the cost.
And while we're at it, it also makes sense to
start taking the many
Hutt City Council services that
have been contracted out to private
companies back "in
house".
That way, every ratepayer dollar will go to
providing the service, not
lining the pockets of private
shareholders here and overseas.
VAN stands for common
sense solutions. We want Council services that
are free
to use, funded out of rates and provided directly by
Council.
If we're elected, we will:
* Campaign inside
Council Chambers and in the streets to stop the water
meters wanted by government and business groups.
*
Move to make other popular Council services, like swimming
pools,
free to use.
* Fight for Rates Justice, so
greedy corporations pay a fairer share of
the costs of
running Council services.
* Push to take Council services
that have been "contracted out" (so
they're provided by
some private company) back "in house" (so they're
provided by Council employees) to improve working
conditions and save
ratepayers'
money.
ENDS