Hudson Brett: Wellington Town Belt Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHudson Brett: Wellington Town Belt Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 06 April 2016. Volume:712;Page:10285. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BRETT HUDSON (National): It is a pleasure to rise and talk in this Committee stage of this Wellington Town Belt Bill. The member in the chair Grant Robertson canvassed quite broadly the history and purpose of this piece of legislation and I would just like to take the opportunity now to acknowledge again that unless there has been some sudden change of heartacross the House and I do not think there has been this is a bill that does have broad support—in fact unanimous support—across the House. I think Mr Robertson is to be congratulated on the work he has done to shepherd this and to be commended for his perseverance. He is sponsoring a bill on behalf on the Wellington City Council that is going to receive unanimous support.The reason I say these things—and we can be completely non-partisan about this—is that taking the liberty that Mr Robertson took I will talk a little bit about why this town belt bill is so important. As we know and we can all acknowledge in this Committee Wellington is without question the finest city in all of New Zealand and in doing this we are going to protect a very important part of our city and it is what makes our city the city that it is which is that green belt. I mean there are many great things about Wellington. There are the interesting and challenging elements of a hillside city there is the beautiful harbour and there is just sufficient air flow to keep air pollution away. It is indeed a great city to inhabit and for some colleagues across the Chamber to visit from week to week.The town belt has long been a feature of our city. It has been a good showcase actually for the heart of the city and I would remind us all that although we might dwell and work in the concrete jungle such as it is we enjoy as all New Zealanders do the green outdoors and the generally pure nature of New Zealand. So I am extremely pleased that this bill is going to receive endorsement across the House because I do believe that that town belt is not only a feature of Wellington; it is something that we should treasure and we should protect.The particular clause in the bill that I want to refer to is clause 23. The bill as originally introduced was going to provide some carve-out mechanisms from the Public Works Act and although I do not cast any aspersions at all on the council or on any others in the drafting of the original bill I do think that it is a far better bill for the removal of those carve-outs. It is providing protection to the town belt but also ensuring that where there are requirements or desires that would ordinarily fall under the aegis of the Public Works Act—for roading primarily—not only is there the ability to do that but it is also under the same terms and conditions for those same works anywhere else in the country because it is important that they are maintained here as well.There is an odd thing in the bill—and like with any bill or any potential piece of law everything is open to interpretation. But certainly one reading of the original bill as it stood is that it could have been seen to permit the Wellington City Council to negotiate to sell elements of the town belt had it chosen to but it would have been required to object to any attempt to acquire it compulsorily. You might argue that you take a different view on that but it is just an oddity in terms of a bill that was meant to protect the town belt that we might have had a situation that would seem counter to the things that were intended. So the change to clause 23 aside from ensuring that the Public Works Act provisions will apply also removes that potential source of interpretation or some might say misinterpretation.So we are left with a bill that I think absolutely achieves the purpose that Mr Robertson pointed out in his contribution which is to protect this thing which is not only a thing of beauty but a showcase of Wellington City and to ensure that it is more effectively coherently and properly governed by bringing together all of the provisions of management and governance under a single Act rather than the separate pieces of legislation that currently exist.Also I would share Mr Robertson’s point about the ability to add to the town belt. I agree with him that introducing about 140 hectares of additional land to begin with is a wonderful thing but what we have done is effectively struck a balance. The amendments that I referenced that will mean that the Public Works Act and compulsory acquisition will still apply are balanced by the fact that the council and the citizens of Wellington will still have the provision to add to this town belt should they choose to do so in the future. So I think we have seen a wonderful bill come into the House.