Latest / Best of Business / Andrew Little: Wellington mayor on the new team chosen to help boost the capital

Transcript

Andrew Little: Wellington mayor on the new team chosen to help boost the capital · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk ZEDB. Follow
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio now.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Wellington's Council has appointed three expert business advisory groups to
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: figure out how to get the capital's mojo back. The
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: groups will help shape a five year plan for Wellington's housing,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: and technology and arts. The Wellington mayor is Andrew little
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: High Andrew, is it really that complicated?
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Well, there's a lot to do and if you look
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: at what's happened to Wellington over the last few years,
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: we've had pretty much zero economic growth for well five
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: or six years now, zero population growth for a slightly
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: longer period. We've got our work cut out for us.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: We do have some strength and beyond being a public
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: service city, we do have some other strengths and it's
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: about drawing on those things and the people who've got
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: experience and expertise in those areas to help us plan
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: out some initiatives that we can take that'll start to
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: make a difference.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Initiatives like what.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Well It's going to be up to them to come
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: up with them, and that's the whole reason we want them.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: If the council had all the answers we would have
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: implemented them by now, but we clearly don't, so we
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: want to draw on people. And I think the really
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: heartwarming thing about this is there are so many people
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: who wanted to help. When I picked this up in
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: the campaign trail last year, a lot of people wanted
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: to help. What they want as a council that's prepared
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: to work with them as partners and listen to them
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: and engage with them and engage with their ideas, and
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: that's what I'm very keen to do.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, look, there is value obviously in having these
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: people around the table, I'll give you that, But is
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: your problem not actually quite simple, which is that Wellington
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: has become far too expensive a place for people to live,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: and it has become far too yuck in the central
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: city for people to want to go out at night.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: Look those issues that we're addressing, and we've got plenty
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: of things to do to address about that. That's why
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: we've set out the group to look at, for example,
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: reshaping Courtney Place and giving that a bit of revitalization,
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: and we work on our own cost control and keeping
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: rates down as last hoss and there's a longer term
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: better work to do with that. But what we also
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: know is that we've lost business and we want to
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: we want.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: To why do you think you've lost a business?
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Well, there's a whole range of issues. We know that
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: with static population or reducing population, that makes a difference.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: But we have some you know, we have some industries here,
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: some sectors here that are very strong. A tech sector
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: is incredibly strong. But that's also a sector where people
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: can can get the business set up and started up
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: and going well, but they can take it anywhere they like.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: So we need to make sure that we're doing whatever
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: if we can to keep those businesses and keep those
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: people here.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Because look, so for example, I see what you're talking
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: about with the you know, the revitalization of the Golden
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: worll Golden Mile and Courtney Place. But the problem is
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: you're going to spend all this money to make Courtney
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Place look nice, but you're still you're resisting the move
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: on orders. So you're going to still have all these
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: rough characters causing trouble in town. Don't you need to actually,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: I mean this is part of your job as a council.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Tidy up, tidy up what's going on behavior wise, get
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: rid of those people out of the center city.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and we're doing that. So we've we've had an
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: exce plan in place for the last year or so
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: and that has led to a lot of people who
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: used to be rough sleepers no longer being rough sleepers.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: More have taken their place that work. Doesn't go away.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: We didn't just say go away, because that's what move
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: on orders do. We actually started fixing the problems that
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: they've got to help them make decisions about, you know,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: securing their lives, securing the future for them. Move on
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: orders don't do that. Move on orders are ridiculous.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Now. I love the I love the idea of having
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: all of this input coming into you. It lives or dies, right,
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: it stands or falls based on your guys around the
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: council table, your willingness to actually listen to it. Are
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: you up for it for what they may say to you?
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, totally. That's why we've set up a group.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: And you know, I gave Carl Tiefenbaker, local businessman, the
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: job of cheering the economic development group. He's the one
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: who's been instrumental and you know, pulling these groups together,
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: working with me to do that. So he's going to
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: provide leadership. I'll provide the leadership these pleas any around
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: the council table who wants to be part of the
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: solutions and want to also be part of that leadership
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: as well. And the great thing is we've got these
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: business leaders who also want to help lead the city.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: So I think all the chemistry is there. But you're right,
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: the proof of the pudding is going to be and
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: do we act on the advice that we get. I'm
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: determined that we do.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Oh good, I'm pleased to hear it. Andrew is always
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: thanks man, It's good to talk to you, Andrew Little,
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Wellington's mayor.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: For more from News Talks ed B listen live on
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio