Latest news with #AndrewTripe
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Is This The Lowest Rates Rise In The Country? Whanganui Council Holds Firm On 2.2 Percent
Whanganui District Council is sticking to an average rates increase of 2.2 percent following deliberations on its draft Annual Plan. Mayor Andrew Tripe believes it's the lowest rise in the country for the year ahead. The plan for 2025/26 will go before the council in June to be adopted. Tripe said the council has focused on doing the basics well, investing in core infrastructure, and involving the community in decision-making. The big topics thrashed out by the council in this week's deliberations were creating a standalone housing entity to grow housing stock, adopting a new strategy for Whanganui, changes to fees and charges, and increasing loan repayments. In each case, community feedback aligned with the council's preferred options. On Thursday, the council confirmed it would: Continue to consider a standalone housing entity Consider all submissions and feedback to inform any minor changes ahead of adopting the draft Strategy for Whanganui Proceed with proposed changes to fees and charges for the year ahead Pay off an additional $590,000 of debt. Operational budget changes have also been made since the council opened its draft Annual Plan 2025/26 for consultation. This includes water levies set by water services authority Taumata Arowai to recover the cost of regulatory functions. These levies will take effect from 1 July, 2025 and are expected to cost around $16 per household. Tripe said it was "incredibly frustrating" to receive news of the levies just as the council was about to adopt its budgets for the year ahead. "It is yet another example of central government shifting costs to local councils and communities - when it should be administered and funded at a national level." These levies, along with proposed Commerce Commission levies, would be incorporated into the Annual Plan budget for 2025/26 and would affect three waters rates for connected households. To ensure full transparency, the levies would be identified on rates notices. However, they would not increase overall rates due to additional income from other council revenue streams. The Annual Plan will be adopted on 26 June, with the plan taking effect from 1 July.
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Is this the lowest rates rise in the country? Whanganui council holds firm on 2.2 percent
The plan for 2025/26 will go before the council in June to be adopted. Photo: Unsplash / Tom Rumble Whanganui District Council is sticking to an average rates increase of 2.2 percent following deliberations on its draft Annual Plan. Mayor Andrew Tripe believes it's the lowest rise in the country for the year ahead. The plan for 2025/26 will go before the council in June to be adopted. Tripe said the council has focused on doing the basics well, investing in core infrastructure, and involving the community in decision-making. The big topics thrashed out by the council in this week's deliberations were creating a standalone housing entity to grow housing stock, adopting a new strategy for Whanganui, changes to fees and charges, and increasing loan repayments. In each case, community feedback aligned with the council's preferred options. Whanganui mayor Andrew Tripe. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin On Thursday, the council confirmed it would: Operational budget changes have also been made since the council opened its draft Annual Plan 2025/26 for consultation. This includes water levies set by water services authority Taumata Arowai to recover the cost of regulatory functions. These levies will take effect from 1 July, 2025 and are expected to cost around $16 per household. Tripe said it was "incredibly frustrating" to receive news of the levies just as the council was about to adopt its budgets for the year ahead. "It is yet another example of central government shifting costs to local councils and communities - when it should be administered and funded at a national level." These levies, along with proposed Commerce Commission levies, would be incorporated into the Annual Plan budget for 2025/26 and would affect three waters rates for connected households. To ensure full transparency, the levies would be identified on rates notices. However, they would not increase overall rates due to additional income from other council revenue streams. The Annual Plan will be adopted on 26 June, with the plan taking effect from 1 July. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
NZ Herald
26-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Whanganui's NZ International Pilot Academy being investigated by CAA after safety complaints
'This action has been taken under Section 314 of the Civil Aviation Act 2023, due to concerns around maintenance practises and the record-keeping processes,' it said. 'The prohibition applies to all flight operations and was deemed necessary to ensure the safety of students, staff, and the public. 'Ground-based training and instructional activities remain unaffected and will continue as scheduled.' Glanville told the Chronicle that the CAA chose to investigate following concerns raised through 'anonymous reporting'. 'There is a general prohibition of using our aircraft while they [CAA] determine if there's a safety aspect to it or not. 'We cannot use our current aircraft fleet, but the Part 141 licence we have is not suspended. 'We are not shut down. They are just investigating whether there is a wider problem with the maintenance of our aircraft.' The academy is funded by the Whanganui District Council and operates under the council's financial arm - Whanganui District Holdings. In 2023, the NZICPA signed a deal with Indian airline IndiGo to train 200 new cadets up to December 2026. Ten second-hand planes, costing $2.78 million in total, were added to the fleet last year. Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said he had a meeting scheduled with the NZICPA board and chief executive for this afternoon. 'We are just trying to gather as much information as we can,' he said. 'The wellbeing and safety of students is a priority.' The academy started operating in 2017, with the council as a 100% shareholder. 'It's got its own board and management team, but, as councillors, we are expecting meticulous attention to safety from all our CCOs,' Tripe said. A report from Holdings chair Carolyn van Leuven to the council's council-controlled organisations and economic development committee in April said a twin-engine DA42 had been bought for the academy. 'NZICPA had previously identified the risk associated with operating only one twin-engine trainer, which was realised when our only DA42 was out of action for five weeks during scheduled maintenance and the shortage in New Zealand of rental DA42's,' it said. At that meeting, NZICPA chairman Matthew Doyle said there were 141 students at its accommodation facilities, with 26 instructors. The council is building a $3.6m partial parallel taxiway from the academy's hangar to the main runway to mitigate safety issues such as backtracking (back taxiing). Glanville's letter said no charges would be made to cadets for accommodation or food during the investigation, starting from May 23 'to the date that a cadet resumes flight training'. 'We are also permitted to lease aircraft not included in the prohibition notice,' it said. 'These will operate under the maintenance control of their respective owners until NZICPA's system is rectified and approved.' Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle
NZ Herald
18-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
CBD parking: Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe supports Mainstreet's proposal to extend parking stay
'We want to promote the ParkMate app much more, but there are so many different tiers of parking that it's difficult to promote.' The ParkMate app, introduced in 2018, was designed to make it more convenient for customers to pay for parking without carrying cash. Mainstreet believed modifying the time limits would encourage more use of the CBD and make it easier for visitors wanting to shop or eat. Mayor Andrew Tripe told the Whanganui Chronicle he supported the proposal. 'A busy and vibrant town centre is a healthy town centre,' he said. 'If we can have people in town spending a bit of money and creating a sense of community, I am all for that. 'I am very supportive. Three hours is not that much different from two - I think three hours is very reasonable.' Meyerhoff, in her presentation to the council, said beautician and hairdresser clients were often caught by the two-hour limit, as were cinemagoers. Vivo Hair & Beauty manager Selina Hill said parking could be a hassle for clients of her Victoria Ave business because appointments often extended past two hours. She was in favour of the proposed changes. 'I think it's a great idea because it ends up costing clients more on top of their service, and quite often they get tickets. 'We lose clients because they can't be parked for long enough. It's a nightmare, so we're all for it.' Tripe said there were 'multiple reasons why you'd need a car parked for three hours more than two, and it's not going to have an effect in causing issues for others'. It has been a busy start to Mainstreet's year with internal changes at the organisation. 'Up until now, we have been a bit quiet and that is because we have been relooking at our foundations, cementing them and looking at the strategy to see how we can implement that,' Meyerhoff said. In November 2024, Nikki Oesterle became chairwoman, while Meyerhoff began as general manager in February. Addressing earthquake-prone buildings in collaboration with the council was another goal. Meyerhoff said Mainstreet had created a database of all the earthquake-prone buildings within the CBD and roughly when they would need renovations. The council, in its 2025-26 Annual Plan, proposes to reintroduce funding of $100,000 for the town centre regeneration project that was removed in the 2024-2034 Long-Term Plan. Mainstreet is advocating that it be made the gatekeeper of the funds, with two focus areas being the enhancement of Majestic Square and better use of alleyways. The organisation wants to develop the square to have more of a multi-cultural and multi-generational use. Meyerhoff hopes to 'activate' alleyways connecting Victoria Ave to neighbouring streets so the area can be more fun and accessible. The council will make decisions on the Annual Plan submissions on May 28-29.
NZ Herald
18-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Whanganui council increases frontline staffing after mock Molotov cocktail threat
'That's to make sure we don't have vulnerable staff exposed while working on their own, which is always an aggravating factor to those kinds of incidents,' he said. His report to the committee said there had been increased safety and de-escalation training for staff and a redesign of the customer services area. 'One additional thing we're about to start looking at is some kind of persona work around the types of customers we receive,' he told councillors. 'Putting the fence at the top of the cliff rather than the training at the bottom of the cliff.' Earlier this year, Langford received an email demanding he leave his office immediately and place himself under house arrest. If he did not comply, he 'would be taken to an undisclosed location'. Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe told the Chronicle the person behind the mock Molotov cocktail was also responsible for a series of threatening notes. 'There was one particular individual who spiked the numbers, but I would say the majority of our community is pretty happy with where things are at,' he said. 'But any person who harasses our frontline staff is one too many. 'I pop down personally to see how they are doing, and they seem to be in a much better place than they were when those incidents happened a few weeks ago.' Langford's report said following a period of escalation over two weeks, the perpetrator was arrested by police. He told the committee he hoped the low rates increase for 2025/26 (an average of 2.2%) would 'take the vitriol out of some people's sails'. 'I'm sure there is more we can do to be a friendlier, easier organisation to do business with so people don't get quite so cross in the first place.' Advertise with NZME. McQuillan told the committee that de-escalation training was being rolled out across all the council's facilities, including the Splash Centre and iSite building. There were two incidents at the Splash Centre in February and one at a library in March. She said it was easy for staff to access the training, which required a discussion with a manager or putting in a request. Councillor Peter Oskam asked if elected members would be included in it and, if so, 'when will the invite go out?'. Langford said something would be put in place. Tripe said the vast majority of interactions with the council were positive, but some were more stressful than others. 'Coming to get a library book wouldn't have too many issues, but then there is having to pay a fine or something like that. 'Councils across the country have experienced the same issues that we have.' Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
