Williams Poto: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3) — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWilliams Poto: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee[Sitting date: 29 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18497. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]POTO WILLIAMS (Labour—Christchurch East): Thank you very much Mr Chairman for the ability to take this call on Part 1 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3). I want to refer to some of the matters that other members have raised particularly around the development contributions and what that does in terms of supplying us with those social facilities those community facilities that we very much need. These matters speak very much to the heart of my colleague Su’a WilliamSio’s Supplementary Order Paper 456 where he talks about restoring to the Local Government Act 2002 the four well-beings which were removed at some point earlier. The four well-beings were the notion that local government actually has a responsibility to its community around supporting the social and community functions. Looking after the four well-beings is more than just removing waste providing water or collecting rates; it is about looking at what the heart of the community needs in order to thrive.I would say that local government is the place where the community can have that voice and it should have that voice. Local community boards and local councils actually know and have a better idea of what is required for their communities than we necessarily do sitting here in Parliament. So I would recommend and suggest that my other colleagues look at that Supplementary Order Paper and consider it to be a very useful addition to this amendment bill. But I want to talk specifically about clause 16 which amends section 56 of the Local Government Act 2002. It is a matter that is very appropriate to Christchurch and the Canterbury MPs. Section 56 is about the consultation process and consultation is currently being initiated by the Christchurch City Council regarding the housing accord.The housing accord looks to the development of affordable and social housing options in our city. It is a great initiative—goodness knows we need more housing ataffordable rates for our people particularly those on low incomes and I am sure that getting more stock into the mix will be of benefit. But what I want to talk about is this particular process. The Local Government Act 2002 talks about the processes of consultation. What I want to raise in this matter is something that the Minister of Housing talked about yesterday at the estimates meeting that the Social Services Committee had. He made it very clear that access to temporary housing was high on his agenda particularly for those people who are now entering the phase of rebuild or repair for their homes. As part of the housing accord that he cited there were three initiatives including those on the Awatea Road andWelles Street sites which were intended for temporary relocation of our population and then at some point in the future they would go on to be sold as affordable housing. However he did not when I questioned him know when the developments would be completed and therefore be available for people to occupy.It misses the point for me if the Minister who claims to be sympathetic to the development of temporary accommodation for our population actually does not know when this accommodation will be developed and when it will be ready for people to move into. This also contradicts his statement yesterday but it stacks up alongside the cuts to the appropriation for temporary accommodation. There is a specific service in Canterbury called the Canterbury Earthquake Temporary Accommodation Service which has had its appropriation cut by two-thirds. It is obvious that the need is now and it will be around for some years to come but in order to inject that affordability and availability back into the Christchurch housing market you need the supply right now.In reference to this bill in particular I want to speak to subpart 1A inserted by clause 15. Within subpart 1A I am looking at new section 48J which looks at the decision-making responsibilities of the governing body. I also want to speak to new section 76AA inserted by clause 18 and new section 93A inserted by clause 29 which speaks to the consultation process and I refer to an earlier comment I made. It is very pertinent as currently there is a proposal in the public consultation process initiated by the Christchurch City Council to consider a social housing option that sets up a separate entity to manage the social housing facility that currently resides with the council. Much of our social housing property was damaged and I know that the council is still waiting for the insurance payout.