Hobbs Marian: Wellington City Empowering and Amendment Bill — Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
Hobbs Marian: Wellington City Empowering and Amendment Bill — Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:615;Page:11116] 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS (NZ Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 I move  
That the Wellington City Empowering and Amendment Bill be now read a third time 
. I want to thank the House for its support and consideration of this local bill. I agree that lined up alongside the debates we have had on the Kyoto Protocol or some of the not-so-pleasant debates that have ravaged this House in the last short while this is a minor matter. I also happen to agree very much with those speakers who have said—and I have said this myself—that local government should control its own affairs. That is what this bill is facilitating and allowing to happen well before the Local Government Act that was passed last year comes into play. The reason this bill is going ahead now is to allow the city council to get on with it before the Local Government Act comes into play. 
I also want to thank those out there who understand what it is like to be a constituency MP when one part of the constituency wants to do something and another part of it says there are things the city council might want to do that will have an effect on them and they come to the local MP to try to get it sorted through. That is why I really appreciate the support of those people at the select committee who actually took on board that issue and I thank them for it. Many of them had an understanding of what it is like to be an MP who is placed in between the city council and the really worthwhile local groups—both of whom are trying to achieve something positive for the Wellington community. 
I say to those members who come into Wellington only 3 days a week as opposed to those of us who live here that we have a real push on space in this particular area. 
Phil Heatley 
: Where do you live? We are confused. 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: That is a very old story and I would not go down that line. 
Those of us who happen to live in Wellington know it is a very small space that we try to occupy. Therefore every part of that space is very very important in terms of fitting all that needs to be in there whether for businesses and their headquarters for Government departments or for the social services that people need to be able to access. That is why I appreciate the work that is done. We are a bowl if one likes and people come down the hill. We do not want them to come down the hill and have to catch another bus to the outer regions of the city—maybe to Miramar—in order to access particular services like the Wellington Women’s Resource Centre and some of the other centres we have been talking about here. 
I appreciate the work done by the select committee. I appreciate the fact that the House agreed to allow this bill to go through all its stages today so that the city council can get on with its job—remembering that it has several jobs to do to keep the diverse community of Wellington happy. 
I just want to refer to something I touched on previously. As this bill was going through—probably after the select committee hearings—residents of a certain street in Wellington came to me really concerned about whether very tall buildings were to be built in this particular area that might block the view of the residents of Central Terrace. That is another issue that will have to be taken up. 
Heather Roy 
: Ha ha! 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: I would not laugh if I were that member. She may know somebody who is very close to this particular issue who will know that it has to be taken through the planning process of the city council. I commend this bill to be read a third time.