Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon says the district can operate within the Government’s planned 4% rates cap, but warns councils will need greater tools to ensure rapid population growth pays for the infrastructure it requires.

Speaking to chrislynchmedia.com, Gliddon said the announcement had not come as a surprise and Selwyn District Council was already preparing for it.

“We’ve been planning for this through our long term plan.”

Gliddon said the council had decided to effectively start its next long term plan from a clean sheet, with rates capping built into its planning.

“What it does mean is that there’s probably going to be decisions that need to be made by the community over how do we phase everything and what do we do, because you can’t deliver everything that everybody wants.”

She said core services and a return to basics would be central to those decisions. Asked whether a 4% cap was manageable, Gliddon said it was.

“You’ve always got to make trade offs, and like I said, you can’t do everything that everybody wants.”

She said councils may also need to reconsider the role they play within their communities.

“I firmly believe that council shouldn’t always be the baton holder. We shouldn’t always be the one that is doing everything and in charge.

“What we should be doing is enabling our community for success. So I think it’s just going to have to be a bit of a role change into what council does and doesn’t do.”

The comments come as Selwyn continues to deal with major population growth while pushing back against further housing developments being advanced through the Government’s Fast Track process.

Gliddon said Selwyn had already planned for about 30 years of housing growth in Rolleston, with capacity approaching 35,000 homes. “What the fast track is doing is circumnavigating that for more houses, and we’re just saying we actually don’t need this right now.”

Gliddon said she and Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon had written to Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop seeking a pause and another look at fast track housing developments.

She said Bishop had been responsive and she and Gordon were due to meet him in mid September. Gliddon said the rates cap, fast track development and infrastructure funding were closely connected.

“Our community has been really strong with me that growth must pay for growth, and at the moment it doesn’t.” She said councils needed access to other funding mechanisms if they were expected to accommodate continued development while restricting rates increases.

“We need to be really clear around what are the levers that we can have to make sure that growth is paying for growth.

“It does become difficult when local government is being asked to do more with less. That’s not necessarily an easy task. But you’ve got to work with the tools that you’ve got, and if you haven’t got the tools, you need to advocate for them.”