Bennett Paula: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill — In Committee 
Bennett Paula: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:645;Page:14863] 
PAULA BENNETT (National) 
: 
 Thank you for the opportunity to speak on Part 3 of the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill which discusses amongst other things local authorities having to monitor and report on certain matters relating to the heritage area. I will speak a bit more about that monitoring and about how that reporting can happen. 
One of the concerns that National wants to raise at this time is around local area plans local area management plans and long-term council community plans. Just so everyone is clear— 
Mark Blumsky 
: That’s too confusing. 
PAULA BENNETT 
: It is a little bit confusing as my colleague says. When it comes to reporting one of the important things for the community is that it has spent a lot of time on long-term council community plans. Those plans have been done independently and under huge consultation. I commend the councils for the work they have done with the community to come to some sort of agreement as to what it wants in a long-term plan and how it can be achieved. 
When this bill was first introduced it stated that the councils would have local area management plans which were then changed to local area plans. Now we have local area plans instead of local area management plans—just so we are all clear. How the local area plans will be reported on and how they fit in with the long-term council community plans is what I think should be of importance to the region. What is of most concern is that the community has already worked out what it wants in a 10-year plan. Members of the community have already set down what direction they want. They have voted in an appropriate council and their concern is how what they want will actually be achieved. 
It is quite interesting; I was reading a press release from the Waitakere City Council on 10 March—just 2 days ago. The council is quite clearly talking about its budget deliberations. Councillor Janet Clews is quoted throughout the press release. She is a councillor whom I have a lot of respect for and she has earned a lot of respect throughout the community. She is chair of Waitakere City Council’s long-term council community plan and annual plan special committee. She talks about budget deliberations and about what needs to be done over a period of time. The press statement quite clearly states: “While the Annual Plan sets the council’s budget for the coming financial year the long-term council community plan (LTTCP) outlines the direction and spending intentions for the next 10 years.” She then says: “It is important that the public know this is the third year of the LTCCP … We are reviewing work and projects that have already been consulted on and agreed so we can’t deviate a long way from that plan.” The council cannot deviate a long way from the plan that was decided on in 2006. Yet it now wants to introduce a law that will deviate from the plan. It is so concerned about this issue that it will deviate from the long-term council community plan which it spent so much time consulting its community on. That seems absolutely ludicrous and National certainly has questions around how it can be possible and how it can make sense. 
Looking at how the councils will report back—under Part 3—I found it ironic to be reading an email from our mayor Bob Harvey. He is a good man and a gutsy man and always puts a smile on someone’s face even though he is a former president of the party on the other side of the House—but good on him. He says point-blank in the email that ONTRACK owns this land that it tends to be a law unto itself and that there is nothing we can do. The council is trying in this bill to have legislation that will state point-blank what people can do with private land but in another breath the mayor is turning round and saying about ONTRACK with which the community has a huge issue with regards to the proposed railway maintenance depot: “Sorry we cannot do anything. It’s private land. It’s not owned by us.” 
Gordon Copeland 
: It’s a double standard. 
PAULA BENNETT 
: It is; it is a complete and utter double standard. It is hypocrisy at its best when the council turns round and says it cannot do anything about something that the community does not want that will actually disturb residents in a local area because it is on private land owned by ONTRACK yet in the other breath—