The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is warning Kāpiti Coast District Council against falling into the trap of spending millions on a new information centre just because the Provincial Growth Fund is putting up half the funding.
The Taxpayers’ Union understands there are concerns around the motivations behind the project. For instance, the chair of an independent
board advising on the matter, George Hickton, has previously acted as an advisor for the tourism operators on Kapiti Island, the obvious beneficiaries of this project. Furthermore, one of the
councillors supporting the project also sits on a group lobbying for the Gateway, the Kapiti Economic Development
Kotahitanga Board.
Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke says, “There has been a dearth of public consultation on the matter, despite a petition of
over 2000 signatures to stop the proposed Gateway project. The ratepayers behind the petition allege that the Council’s
own resource consent has 11 non-complying activities.”
“This is a clear example of a council’s eyes being larger than its stomach. Kiwis love a bargain, and the Provincial
Growth Fund’s dollar-for-dollar funding offer has proven irresistible for a Mayor driven by a desire for a legacy
project.”
“The high operational costs of the Gateway in the first few years could easily turn this asset into a liability. This is
on top of dubious projections of revenue from the project, and the idea of increased biosecurity is laughable when there
has been only one recorded breach in the last 20 years.”
“Kāpiti Coast District is one of the country’s most indebted councils, and is now threatening to increase rates by 8.1%.
The quid pro-quo is that they must demonstrate they’re spending ratepayer money with caution. Simply because a cash-rich
government body is offering taxpayer funds, it doesn’t justify throwing an equal amount of ratepayer money at a dubious
legacy project.”