The Star: April 19, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday April 19 2018 23
Viewpoint
Twyford meeting
‘extremely constructive’
LAST Friday
we had our first
formal meeting
as a city council
with Hon Phil
Twyford, Minister
for Transport,
Housing and
Urban Development. It was
enormously constructive and
I believe this term will see
advances in both housing and
transport, the like of which we
haven’t seen for years.
I congratulated the minister
on the changes signalled in
the new Government policy
statement for land transport,
with its emphasis on safety,
public and active transport,
sustainability and value for
money.
ALL POLITICIANS have good
intentions.
We are all drawn to the
job because we want to
make a difference in our
communities.
And we develop new policies
that we think will make life
better for New Zealanders.
But good intentions are
not enough when it comes to
delivering on our policies. An
election promise is self-imposed
and must be costed and well
thought out.
If not, it is hard for that policy
to be delivered as promised
and risks looking like political
posturing as opposed to a
genuine effort to help.
We are seeing this happen to
the Ardern-Peters’ Government
as its promises start to look
more like political posturing.
After opposing the TPPA,
they have now implemented a
near identical deal.
Lianne Dalziel
We are clearly travelling
in the same direction. Our
interests are fully aligned. We
both believe all people should
have access to housing that is
secure, safe, affordable, warm
and dry. The Government
has ambitious building targets
when it comes to social and
affordable housing, as do we.
And we both understand the
criticality of transport links and
the need for modal shift from
single occupancy vehicles to
public transport, walking and
After criticising our
immigration numbers, they
have kept immigration levels
the same in spite of a promised
cut of 20,000 to 30,000 people
a year.
In Christchurch, their
long-running protest about
commissioners at ECan and
promise to hold elections
immediately has been scrapped
in favour of maintaining
National’s plan to have full
elections in 2019.
Again, the promise of a $300
million fund to speed up the
rebuild and be “on the table and
ready to be accessed” is now
subject to a budget bid and the
uncertainty that goes with that.
cycling. We need to make it
easy for people to do that.
In terms of housing, the
Government has set ambitious
targets for building affordable
homes.
We are very keen to partner
with them and the private
sector to achieve great outcomes
for our city.
I have reinforced with the
minister the challenges we
face with the current public
transport operating model,
both in terms of funding and
contracting for bus routes.
Securing transport corridors
is key to a modern public
transport system that gets
people to where they need to be
faster and more conveniently
than a car.
Good intentions not enough
Nicky Wagner
I do not doubt for a moment
the sincerity of the Prime
Minister or the Minister
for Greater Christchurch
Regeneration. They have the
good intentions. We all do.
But as they continue to
backtrack on the policies they
promised during the campaign,
or weaken the surety of their
commitments, their promises
look more and more like
political posturing.
Good intentions are not
enough, people voted for those
policies and those promises
must now be kept.
•Nicky Wagner is a National
list MP based in Christchurch
Central
Plan to help those
in EQC limbo
IT HAS emerged in recent days
that here are 664 families stuck
in a special type of EQC limbo
– people who have purchased
a home that they knew had
EQC repairs, only to find that
those repairs were botched and
botched so badly it pushed them
over EQC’s cap, and now their
insurance company won’t pay the
difference.
It’s a heart-wrenching situation
for people to be stuck in. Often
these are people who have done
everything right, they’ve got
builders’ reports and they’ve
inspected the house closely. But
now they’re trapped and their
most valuable asset will cost
hundreds of thousands of dollars
to repair.
THis is a real mess and it’s one
the previous Government should
have taken action on years ago.
The first legal case on this issue
was lodged in May 2016, and
EQC has always known this
was going to be an issue when
repaired homes started to be sold.
Yet when our Government took
over, nothing had been done.
Combined with the wider issue
of re-repairs and the $270 million
bill to taxpayer to put them right,
it seems to me there was wilful
ignorance about how badly
repairs had been botched and
what it would mean for people.
We have a plan to fix this issue
though and get people out of
limbo and able to move on with
their lives. The Government will
be looking to fund test cases to
clarify the law and clear up who
needs to pay.
THat will mean the people in
these awful situations can get
their homes repaired and have
a sense of hope and optimism
about the future again.
I’ve also asked for urgent advice
from EQC on the potential
liability to the taxpayer if it was
found that EQC was liable for
putting this right. It’s important
we know what this could cost so
we can plan for it effectively.
•Megan Woods is the Minister
of Greater Christchurch
Regeneration
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