Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Bill

Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. I move, That the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Environment Committee to consider the bill.

I rise in support of this bill from my local council. I have to say that being a member of Parliament obviously is littered with a number of firsts. Having a bill drawn from the biscuit tin is one, and I can very gladly at this stage tick that box, and now having a local bill as part of the proceedings today is another.

Legislatively, this issue before the House today stems from 1922—some would argue before that when we look at the ownership of the land in question. But specifically the Palmerston North Reserves Act of 1922, historically nearly 100 years in the making, meant that the Palmerston North City Council holds or owns certain lands in the area. That 1922 Act identified that certain specified land could not be sold, and those were identified by way of a list in the Act and by way of a Schedule as well.

The situation that my local council, or the Palmerston North City Council, finds itself in is that if any of that certain specified land becomes surplus to requirements, which I accept can be a subjective consideration, then it needs to go through a legislative process through the Parliament, not simply something that the council can manage and determine itself in order to be able to sell the land or lift the status of the land so that it could be potentially developed or sold. That essentially is the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Act of 1966. This local amendment bill seeks to do exactly that.

The land in question here is locally or colloquially known as the Huia Street Reserve. Now, Huia Street is actually the roadway or the street that runs between the local tennis club and Palmerston North Girls’ High School. Actually, those that have a look back through the parliamentary record will see that this Act has actually been amended in the past to provide for some land to be transferred over from the Crown to the Palmerston North Girls’ High School. The land in question here obviously has a legal description. I’m advised that it’s 1.6032 hectares in size, but essentially it is a parcel of land situated on the corner of Fitzherbert Avenue and Park Road. Now, those travelling into Palmerston North from the south-eastern entrance—and yes, we have more than one entrance into our fine city. Actually, you can get there through the north-eastern, the north-western, and the south-western entrance. But those travelling the south-eastern entrance coming across Fitzherbert Bridge, over the Manawatū River, will notice that it’s actually parked up on the left-hand side as you enter the city. Actually, it’s halfway between the river and the square, Te Marae o Hine. So it is centrally located and an ideal location.

Now, I, along with others, were born in Palmerston North, so I grew up fairly familiar with this piece of land and the use over the years. And I know that others will be familiar with it as well. My colleagues Deborah Russell; Rachel Boyack, who may wish to take a call; Teanau Tuiono; Mr McKelvie, I acknowledge in the House—he is familiar with it as well. But also—

💬 Simeon Brown: I think I drove past once.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! Order!

And anyone’s happy to have a drive past in Palmerston North to check this bit of land out.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! Order!

Madam Speaker?

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Is also familiar with Palmerston North, please don’t leave me out.

Oh, my apologies. And can I just acknowledge Madam Speaker, who has a fine history with my former school—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Only born and bred.

—Freyberg High School as well. So my list is not an exclusive one; it is one that reflects the fact that there are members in this House who are very, very familiar with this fine city of Palmerston North.

But what I would say is that there has been a lot of chat over the years that this prime site would be developed in particular ways, for a petrol station and the like—there’s many there. But it’s been known as a bowling club, occupied by the Manawatū Bowling Club, alongside petanque opportunities, and currently it sits vacant. And it actually has been vacant since 2005, so some 16 years. So the local council, via this local bill, wishes to explore future options around residential development of the site in question.

This is not the first time, however, that this piece of land has been subject to the parliamentary process. In 2007, the member for Parliament North at the time, the Hon Steve Maharey, introduced an amendment bill that went through first reading and went to the select committee. Now, the outcome of that select committee process was that the bill, as I understand it, was discharged. It’s fair to say that there were a few hiccups along the way. So I’ve had a look back through the Hansard at the comments from Mr Maharey at the time, because I have been keen to ensure that those hurdles are not hurdles that may, from a process perspective, get in the way of the select committee and its determination if this bill proceeds beyond first reading. So when I have a look at the comments from the Hon Steve Maharey, he says in the Hansard “that it is the parliamentary convention that the local MP sponsors bills of this nature through the House. It provides a mechanism whereby people can make sure that legislation is passed from a local point of view. In this case it is the Palmerston North City Council that wants this legislation to be passed and it is my duty to ensure that it is advanced so it can be discussed.”

Now, I go a little bit further than one of my predecessors—Mr Maharey—in that I think before that duty is discharged, it is the responsibility of a local member to satisfy themselves that the relevant processes by a council have actually been followed. So I do want to just acknowledge the Palmerston North City Council—in particular Desiree Harvey, the legal counsel, David Murphy and Michael Duindam—for the preparation that they’ve undertaken in this particular regard.

In looking at this local bill and back to the issues raised at the time, there were four. The first is concern about the notification process: the lack of a community mandate for any future development back in 2007. The council, in my view, has commenced a process. It has produced for me and for the Clerk a council resolution. It’s not a unanimous resolution. It was, as I understand it, a 12 to two vote in favour. I have to say that I was acutely aware of this, because I was the deputy mayor at the time that the consultation process was undertaken. However, as the council’s planning and strategy committee considered this position and voted on it three days before the general election, out of an abundance of caution I withdrew from considerations, so there is no conflict of in that particular regard.

The previous Hansard does indicate that the former member for Rangitīkei Simon Power also had some concerns about the process being followed. The council informed me that Mr McKelvie and also the member for Te Tai Hauāuru, Adrian Rurawhe, have also been notified and kept informed of this throughout the entire process. I also note that concerns previously around the tennis club have also been advanced as well.

The second issue was a concern that the select committee had a number of city councillors who fronted up to the select committee, and so the council needed to be very clear that its justification for proceeding was there.

Number three as a concern was about an insufficient amount of reserve land as a result of a potential change in the land’s status. Now, I would suggest that there is a significant amount of green space. I’m advised that it’s around 80 hectares in the immediate vicinity of that area. When we talk about Ongley Park, Manawaroa Park, Fitzherbert Park, the Victoria Esplanade, which is iconic and a jewel in the city’s and region’s crown as well, alongside, obviously, the Manawatū River pathways and He Ara Kotahi. So those considerations, I’m sure, will be addressed by the select committee, but, in my view, they need to be balanced alongside the fact that there is around 50 hectares of green space in immediate surrounds of the Huia Reserve land.

And the final concern at the time back in 2007 was raised by the Māori Party, which was concerns around the lack of engagement with local iwi, Rangitāne. I actually want to acknowledge the strong relationship that the Palmerston North City Council has with Rangitāne. It is something that has been worked on and developed over many years. I have to say that I have also been advised that Rangitāne are aware of this and that this will not come as any surprise to them as the bill works its way through the select committee process.

So considering those four hurdles that were fairly clear when this bill came to the Parliament last, I am satisfied that, yes, it is my duty as the local member for Palmerston North to proceed with this bill and, having those four hurdles cleared, I am satisfied that it is appropriate to be able to be in a position today to say, yes, we’ll await the next process if this does pass first reading this afternoon, but on that basis I am delighted to be able to commend this bill to the House.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to speak on the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Bill and to follow the member Tangi Utikere for the second time on a bill he’s introduced to the House in the last few weeks. He’s outlined it extremely well, and I was wondering why it hadn’t come to the Governance and Administration Committee until he claimed the fact that last time it went to the Governance and Administration Committee, they sent it back. So he won’t be sending it there this time, and probably for very good reason.

It is an interesting piece of legislation, because one of the great frustrations for councils right around the country is the fact that they have these reserves that they’ve been accumulating, in some cases, over hundreds of years, which, when they sell them, the Government either confiscates half the money and uses it somewhere else, or otherwise they just hold them because they don’t want to give the Government half the money, which is very unfortunate. It’s interesting in this case. It’s a little bit different because Palmerston North has a couple of Acts of its own which enable it, through this mechanism, actually, to get to the point where they can, if they wish to, sell that piece of land and reinvest it in further, I guess, green space, or parks and reserves, for the use of the city.

Palmerston North’s quite an interesting place. It’s had a lot of names in my time. It was called the “Rose City” for a while, and, actually, it’s got 5,000 roses in its rose garden—imagine trying to prune them. The most famous of them is named after another name that it was called for a while—and, actually, I think it’s been rejuvenated now—which is the name of “Palmy”, and that’s the Pride of Palmy, which is a bright yellow rose. It’s very pretty, actually, and that’s just been released, I think, last year and planted in the Palmerston North rose garden.

It’s also called the “Student City”, and it’s had a lot of names, but the most famous name of all was John Cleese’s name that he gave it, which I won’t repeat in here. But he then had the rubbish dump named after him, so you can imagine it was quite an appropriate name they gave him. He won’t be invited back to Palmerston North, I’m quite sure.

But, as Tangi Utikere explained, there is an enormous number of reserves and very attractive public areas in Palmerston North, and particularly in this part of town because, as he explained, this reserve is adjacent to the Palmerston North Girls’ High School, which is, in turn, adjacent to the Esplanade and Ongley Park, which are massively big pieces of reserve land. That, of course, is then adjacent to the Manawatū River, which, aside from in 2004, usually behaves itself, and you can get from Ashhurst all the way to Longburn down the Manawatū River, which is most attractive and has been beautifully tracked by the Palmerston North City Council. So there are plenty of opportunities, in my view, for alternative reserve facilities in Palmerston North.

Whilst there’s always opposition to city councils or to councils of any sort selling off public reserves, and you can understand why to some extent, I think the Palmerston North City Council is particularly cognisant of its reserves. It makes a great effort to make sure that those are available to the public, and there’s plenty of space available for that. So I think it’s a very good use of this land for it to be redesignated, and if, in fact, the council want to sell it in the future, they can, and if, in fact, they want to redevelop it themselves, they could. They may well do that, I imagine, because it is an ideal place for housing. It’s on a main traffic thoroughfare, it’s very close to the CBD, and it’s ideal for the kind of development that they clearly have in mind for it.

It’s an interesting process, bringing Acts through this Parliament. I, in fact, myself was the mayor of a council that brought an Act through here called the Manfeild Park Act in 2006, which enabled Manfeild Park to be converted. The reason for that was it was taken from being a racecourse and, effectively, transferred into a reserve in the Manawatū District, and that’s a very big reserve just adjacent to Feilding.

So I think the member for Palmerston North has framed the process very well. I think it’s worthy of support, this kind of legislation going through the House. I think, in a funny way, it’s unfortunate that we have the legislation in the manner it is, because it does, as I said earlier, inhibit councils and communities from doing what they want to do with land. But, at the same time, we have to have a balance and a safeguard from that type of activity, so it is a fine balancing act. But I won’t say any more today. As I’ve said, it’s worthy of support, and I wish them all the best as they get this through the select committee process. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I have a confession to make, and that is that I am from Palmerston North and I am proud to be a Palmy girl. In fact, I went to Palmerston North Girls’ High School, which is the fantastic school that has been spoken about, and used to walk and cycle through Huia Street to the back of the school, which was the music department. So it is a real pleasure to take a call on this bill.

As members have noted, local bills are a bit rare. They are a bit unusual. And so I want to commend my colleague Tangi Utikere who went to intermediate school with me at the mighty Ross Intermediate back in the early 1990s. Even then, my colleague was called on to deliver all the thank-you speeches. So he was always bound for leadership. I just want to congratulate him on bringing this bill to the House on behalf of Palmerston North City Council. In fact, the previous version of this bill was introduced when my step father was the deputy mayor of Palmerston North, a role that Tangi Utikere also used to hold, while my colleague Ian McKelvie was the mayor of the neighbouring Manawatū District Council.

So, look, I must admit when this bill came through, I said, “Please, can I speak about this bill?”, because it’s a great bill to talk about the place where I went to school. This is an ideal place for housing to go. It is right next to the fantastic Fitzherbert Park near the Lido swimming pool, the Manawatū rose gardens, the Blue Moon Dairy at the BP station, which gives out fantastic ice creams—

💬 Barbara Edmonds: What’s your favourite flavour?

Oh, goody goody gum drops. They were great at the Blue Moon Dairy. And look, it is an ideal place for housing and, having had a look through the proposal from the city council that is out for consultation, one of the things I note is that it could potentially build up to 80 apartments, and that will make an enormous difference—an enormous difference—to the housing needs in Palmerston North.

Palmerston North and Nelson, where I am proud to be the MP, they have a lot of things in common. They have a lot of things that aren’t in common: it’s sunny in Nelson; it’s quite rainy and windy in Palmerston North—the rule is that if you’re from Palmerston North, you’re allowed to dis it, but no one else is. But look, it is a provincial centre that, like many of our provincial centres around New Zealand, has challenges around housing. The council has an opportunity as well to join the legislation that’s currently going through the House as a tier 2 council just like Nelson. Earlier this year, along with colleagues, we visited some of the Palmerston North City Council flats that have just been redeveloped, and it was really good to see what the council had been able to do to take that land and actually develop it further and get more units on that bit of land. And it was wonderful to talk to the residents about the impact that had made on their lives.

This is an ideal piece of flat land. Palmerston North is flat. It’s actually very easy to find these pockets of flat land and build. In Nelson, unfortunately, we have a different set of circumstances in that in the Nelson City area, it’s actually very, very challenging to find flat land. And Nelson City Council has recently gone through a similar process where the council has consulted with the community to potentially sell some inner city land to Kāinga Ora where we may be able to build up to 200 units of both public housing and houses for first-home buyers. Thankfully, because that land wasn’t in reserve land, Nelson City Council didn’t have to bring an Act of Parliament like this one to the Parliament in order to amend the Reserves Act. So we have been lucky in that regard. But I do want to commend Palmerston North City Council for taking this initiative, for putting an opportunity for housing in one of the best parts of Palmerston North, right next to one of its very best schools, next to local schools, close to public transport, close to the inner city, close to—well, they don’t have a beach; they do have a fantastic river in the Manawatū River. I think that this build will present an enormous opportunity for Palmerston North. I congratulate the city council, congratulate my colleague, and I commend this bill to the House.

Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Thank you. The Green Party will be supporting the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Bill. I don’t have the nostalgic memories that Rachel Boyack does and am not able to describe the area in quite such eloquent detail. So my research was looking at the location of the Huia Street Reserve on Google Earth and Google Maps, and noting that it is only five blocks from the square in Palmerston North and it’s on quite a prominent intersection and that it is quite close to quite large areas of open space—Ongley and Manawaroa parks—and, also, the council has noted its proximity to the Victoria Esplanade and the Julia Wallace park. So the council has concluded that there is quite significant public open space within the vicinity that justifies this local bill. It will be, obviously, for the select committee to hear submissions, and I am pleased that it’s going to the hard-working Environment Committee.

I would just note, though, that there has been quite a lot of community concern about the potential loss of the reserve. The Railway Land Action Group, Environment Network Manawatū saw there as being value in the reserve remaining as open space and wanted to protect it as green space. I think Environment Network Manawatū sees the potential for it to have things like a plant nursery, demonstrations of renewable energy, an eco-house, and hope that in determining the future of the land and its future uses, that the city council works with those community organisations and their aspirations to have areas where sustainability practices are able to be experienced and shown to the public and to find suitable land for that to happen.

Yes, the land has been vacant—was formerly the Manawatū bowling club, I understand—and it’s been vacant since 2005. The proposals that the council has made for potentially using it for housing noted that there were a range of options; not all of them were promoting the sort of medium- and high-density housing and variety of typologies that would be most suited to this site so close to the central city. So I hope that the council, when it does make a decision, does look to maximise the range of houses there, the range of affordability, and really does do medium- or high-density well and not just allow a developer to buy it and then turn it into something that’s not really encouraging urban renewal and urban intensification. But that is a decision for the council; it is not for the Parliament. This bill is simply enabling the Palmerston North City Council to choose to sell it if it wishes to, because at the moment, as Tangi Utikere noted in his speech, it is held as reserve status, and there is not an ability to sell.

So I look forward to submissions on the bill and all the views that they will bring to bear. The Green Party supports the bill.

Kia ora e te Māngai o te Whare. It gives me great pleasure to rise and take this call on this really lovely little bill put forward by my colleague and friend in the class of 2020, Tangi Utikere. I have a confession to make, too: I was not raised in Palmerston North. In fact, I have been trying to dig back into my memories and I thought for a while there I had never been to Palmerston North and I was feeling deeply ashamed, but then I remembered the occasion of my uncle Simon’s marriage to my aunty Jenny when I was about 11, which was marked—and I’m sure this is why I otherwise failed to remember the amazing rose garden of Palmerston North and its many beauties and treasures—by the unfortunate fall of my little sister Georgie from a jungle gym in the camping ground we were all staying in for the wedding, when she broke her arm in two places.

But that trauma aside, what we see here is the potential of the healing, the healing of the bones of the community, which is housing. I am—no chuckle for my metaphor? Not a single chuckle for my metaphor?

💬 Angie Warren-Clark: I chuckled.

There was a chuckle—thank you. What excites me about this bill is that here we have another town a little bit like mine, a similar size to my Whangārei, in some ways a similar situation in that it’s a mix of the agricultural and the business and the innovation. They, of course, have major universities centred there, which we do not. But they do have this reputation for innovation, and I thought it’s really interesting to see a council that is prepared to take the initiative in bringing forward land that is otherwise locked away from development for the purpose of housing. It is a difficult thing for a little local council to do, because they are exposed to the intensities of local reaction in a way that sometimes as MPs in this House we are not. So I really do commend the Palmerston North City Council for bringing this matter to this House’s attention for, hopefully, a resolution where all aspects of its community will see this as a positive step.

When I look at the possibilities for this bit of land, which, as my colleagues have already described, is surrounded by amenities, is surrounded from the wonderful rose-named Blue Moon Dairy through to parks and the open space that you need around any intensive development, the potential to take this block of land and turn it into a great place to live, but also—and I’m going to echo our colleague Eugenie Sage—to look at using some medium density there so that we can house more of our people.

I spent a period living in the UK where my family of four kids, my husband, and me lived in a little two-up, two-down house in a dense college where you had a little quadrangle of flats full of children and their parents around green space, and it was one of the best ways we’ve ever lived as a family. The ability to build community connections, to have that support from your neighbours, to have a real sense of place and of each other, it was a marvellous way to support each other as parents. There was no loneliness in a well-designed medium-density villagette. That, I hope, is the sort of thing that our councils up and down the land will look at taking forward, and they can do so now under the housing intensification plans that were brought forward by this House only this week.

So it is with excitement and hope that I look to see what happens with this bill and excitement and hope that I look to see what happens right through our provincial towns like mine, where I hope that our councils and our developers will take leadership and we’ll imagine, together with their communities, a new way of housing that will look after our people as they have not been looked after for many years, but will do so in a way that is environmentally sustainable and builds good communities. I commend this to the House.

ACT supports this bill. The Palmerston North council have every right to use their land and their assets as they see fit. After all, they are community assets which the community has purchased and the council has a responsibility to manage them for the best outcome for the community. That’s quite different from the way the Government sees three waters assets, which also are owned by communities but the Government has seen fit in that case to propose to take them from communities and install them in some remote corporation with an arcane and inefficient governance system. The benefits of that are not well understood.

The core issue that this bill addresses is that local government really, really struggles to repurpose, re-allocate, and recycle land that was originally dedicated to one purpose, like a reserve—in this case, a bowling club—and forgive me, because I’ve never been bowling and I’ve certainly never been bowling at this club. I understand that for decades people enjoyed going bowling but what the Palmerston North council’s identified is that this land would be better used for housing, and so because they are the local council and they are best placed to understand local issues, it’s good that Parliament is trusting them to know what to do with their land and assets. And, again, it’s a huge contrast with the way the Government has persecuted and prosecuted its three waters agenda against local government and their water assets. So I’ll just let that one sink in for a moment for the members in the Government over there.

The reason that Palmerston North council wants to repurpose this land is because it has a higher value. They want to potentially re-zone it for housing, and we’ve heard that up to 80 high-quality housing units may be developed on this site. The council has undergone a process. They’ve undertaken a process of consultation with their community, and while there were many different proposals for how this land might be used, it’s quite likely, given its location and its suitability, that a high-density housing subdivision and development is the best use for it.

ACT supports this bill because it is a locally elected council deciding what to do with its assets. We think that’s a good idea and that the Government should leave councils alone to use their assets, as long as they’re using them wisely, and support them. But we must ask: is it actually the role of councils, having repurposed the land through zoning, to then develop and build houses, own them and maintain them? The ACT Party would contend that councils don’t necessarily have the skills to own and operate and maintain property and to act as landlords, to manage tenants, and to manage the maintenance of housing developments. That is well outside their remit and their core skillset.

So the ACT Party wants to raise the issue of risk. Despite the fact that we support this bill, we would be very, very concerned if councils like Palmerston North council then took it upon themselves to begin to act as property developers, to compete with the private sector for the provision of homes and as property managers, and to engage in activities which, really, they have no business engaging in. They don’t have the skills, they don’t have the capacity, and while they might like to think they can, it’s clear they can’t. Community housing associations and community housing providers don’t believe this Government can either, which is why they’ve been asking Kāinga Ora and Housing New Zealand to hand over their assets to community housing providers to deliver housing in regions like the Manawatū. So we would ask that the Government consider that in far more detail and listen to those people in communities who know what their communities need because they’re local and they’re close to those communities. ACT will support this bill.

Kia ora, Madam Speaker, and thank you for this opportunity to speak on this local bill. And congratulations, Tangi Utikere, MP for Palmerston North. Who would have thought Palmerston North would get talked about so much in this House on this afternoon, but here we are chatting away.

Now, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, my 21 years living in New Plymouth and now being the MP for New Plymouth, Tangi Utikere and I have some similarities. We get confused quite regularly. I know we look very similar. But being MPs, often Palmerston North and New Plymouth do get mixed up, but they’re both beautiful, wonderful cities. One has a mountain and a beautiful ocean; the other’s Palmerston North. But it is a beautiful place and I really do love it. In fact, trying to sort of connect to Palmerston North, as people have this afternoon, my mother actually is from Foxton, and she used to bus every day to Palmerston North to go to Palmerston North Girls’ High School right next to this piece of land. So suddenly I am connected to this place.

Now, I trust Mr Utikere. I trust him as he was a councillor and deputy mayor of Palmerston North City, so he knows this piece of land. He knows this piece of legislation. He knows what this local bill will do in terms of housing, in terms of development, in terms of easing some of the challenges that face the people of Palmerston North. And just like me as a local MP, we’re doing work in New Plymouth around our housing situation, and our council is working hard with local providers, with iwi, and also within their own selves in terms of what land they have that potentially could be available for the development of houses to ensure that our growing beautiful cities continue to be beautiful and cared for.

Now, the question I do often ask is around green spaces, because the last thing we want is for our cities to become clogged and jammed and too full. So I was encouraged to hear Mr Utikere talk about the fact that around that space, around that green space, there’s a mass of hectares of area that is already green space, is already beautiful, and so this will not impact on the beauty of Palmerston North City in its CBD area. I’m also aware that it’s been 16 years—16 years since anything happened on that land. So if we talk about green space and the loss of it, it’s actually just sitting there. It’s actually growing weeds, I’m guessing. I did do the Google search and saw it. It is just sitting there and not being used. So therefore, let’s use it and let’s get on with it and let’s ensure that some houses can be built.

Now, what I like about a progressive council like Palmerston North City Council is that they are looking at all the options. They’re not looking at just building what you always build, and they’re not just looking at doing what’s always been done; they’re being innovative. Also, I’m really proud of the Palmerston North City Council to see that the majority of councillors, when I was reading up about this, said that they need to take leadership in this space. They need to provide land for housing and showing how more homes could be provided by moving away from traditional-style subdivisions. So they realise that as a council they have a leadership role to play and they will play that. And this piece of legislation will ensure that that happens.

I’m also glad that democracy is a wonderful thing in how it works. And back in 2007, when the Hon Steve Maharey did bring this to the House, there were conversations had in the consultation space. There were concerns there hadn’t been enough discussion, and so it was put on hold. And here we are again, 15 years, 14 years later, and those conversations have been had and this is ready for development and ready to be done.

But my final thought around the Palmerston North City Council and, you know, feeling like I need to also encourage my local council as well—but the fact is that this isn’t just a fait accompli if this piece of legislation goes through, the plans are drawn, up go the houses; it actually has to go back through council through process. In a public meeting decisions will be made around what happens on this piece of land. So, again, democracy in action. Palmerston North City Council is doing some good things. They’ll continue to do more good things. I congratulate Tangi Utikere, MP for Palmerston North, and I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to rise to take a call on the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Bill. Now, it looks like Palmerston North has a good history of sending fine people to this House—including yourself, Madam Speaker, and my good friend Tangi Utikere. I know that a lot of people have claimed to have something to do with Palmerston North, but the only thing I can claim is that I have visited Palmerston North quite a few times, and the last time being at the invitation of my good friend here, Tangi Utikere. The day that I spent was quite a significant day, and one of the things that we did was visit the bridge that is near to this reserve place called He Ara Kotahi, which is a beautiful bridge that the Government spent millions of dollars on. I thank my friend and the member for Palmerston North for his generous hospitality.

Now, the heart of this bill is the land that has been sitting there and not being able to do anything with, because it’s been reserved until the Act of 1922. So, under this Act, this land cannot be sold, cannot be developed—it’s just sitting there—and what a waste. So the council has stepped up and is being innovative and trying to do something about it that is, of course, supported from the local community. There are views on both sides, but those views will be neutralised when the bill goes through the select committee process.

My good friend Rachel Boyack mentioned how, if this bill passes, up to 80 apartments can be built on this land, and what a significant difference that’s going to make in the Palmerston North community. There is no denying that we have got a housing crisis throughout the country, and Palmerston North might look better than some places, but it still has its own issues, and this is going to make a huge difference. The reserve was originally given to the city in 1876 by the Wellington provisional Government as a public park and recreation grounds. It’s no secret that New Zealand has, like I said before, a serious housing crisis, and now, despite residential building consents increasing to levels seen only in 1970, the council plan has been limited by this Act, and the development of opportunities are being denied as a result. Evidence shows that removing overly restrictive planning rules leads to more affordable homes being built, and this is much needed.

I’m going to put my ethnic lens in and talk about the diversity and multiculturalism of Palmerston North. The times that I visited, I visited a lot of communities. It’s a vibrant city, it’s every day increasing—people coming from different parts of the world as refugees, migrants, skilled migrants—and families want to move to Palmerston North because it’s alive, it’s beautiful. So the council needs to be equipped with legislative powers to keep enriching the city and commit to diverse population growths. The potential development that would be able to go ahead with this minor amendment would make a dramatic and positive impact on Palmerston North. Whether it’s to build houses or community centres or recreational places, this will be in the hands of the local decision makers, and the city will be able to grow and meet its special needs.

So now I commend, like many others did, the Palmerston North City Council for being very innovative and very creative by, I think, going against all odds, I think, because sometimes the land issue can be complex—it can be difficult at times—but the Palmerston North City Council is going above and beyond to resolve this issue. So, finally, I commend Tangi Utikere for again bringing yet another simple and small piece of legislation, but yet very significant and important, which is going to make a difference in his city that we all love to visit. I look forward to more invitations, and maybe even some dinners as a bribe so I can keep coming! I commend this bill to the House.

I rise to talk on the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Bill. I thank the member Tangi Utikere for bringing this local bill to this House.

I, unlike many in this House, don’t reside or come from Palmerston North, but I did, as part of my deep research for this short call today, do some research and find that it is the home of the Rugby Museum. Obviously, as a keen member of the parliamentary rugby team—and I look across the House and I can see the very light-footed but very fast Kieran McAnulty, who plays on the wing for that team, and the Hon Michael Woodhouse, who’s our fly-half and the second row of which I play with Mr O’Connor—I reflect that the Rugby Museum in Palmerston North is a key part of that city. But, of course, this bill is about a lovely reserve related to a part of our local government area and a reserve that is obviously going to be sold for development into housing.

National supports this bill. National stands up for councils and National stands for keeping the “local” in “local government”. National supports local councils and local governments to make their own decisions, and this is an example of a decision that is going to be able to be put into that council’s hand to be able to do what will be a positive thing in regards to future housing development. National supports this bill as, obviously, not only will this create housing development but also it will create community facilities in developments for that local community, and that is a good thing.

We’ve heard from prior speakers that this land has been vacant for nearly 15 years, so it seems sensible that that will transition back out. It’s been through a thorough consultation process, and, again, I thank the member for providing detail around that. Of course, it will go through a select committee process as well to ensure that the issues are dealt through.

I acknowledge there was some feedback that was in opposition to this bill, but as it has been through a reasonable degree, or a higher degree, of consultation, I think most of those issues have been mitigated, and I look forward to seeing this bill pass through.

I lastly say that, actually, there are a number of examples of these types of bills around the country. I’ve actually got one in my local electorate. So I look forward to the future when we can bring that to the House. I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to speak on this local bill, the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Bill. I commend the member who has sponsored this bill, the local MP for Palmerston North, Tangi Utikere, a good mate of mine and a really hard-working MP. Look, I mean, we’re all guilty of saying that about our colleagues from time to time, but in this instance it happens to be true. He is a very hard-working member of Parliament for Palmerston North. I say to the good people of Palmerston North, they are actually very fortunate to have Tangi as their MP.

I really like local bills. Not everybody understands, I don’t believe, the difference between a local bill and a member’s bill, and why local bills get precedence on a members’ day against those bills where members have come up and put it in the ballot and had the luck to get it drawn out of the ballot and then have it debated on a member’s bill. So normally you would imagine, considering the situation that we have here, that the council would be able to make this decision for themselves. But because the land in question happens to have been named in the Palmerston North Reserves Act 1922, the council requires an amendment to that or a bill to come through Parliament and be passed in order for them to make the decisions that they wish on this land.

As other members have mentioned, that, of course, this isn’t some roundabout way to try and subvert the process. This just allows the process to happen, because at the moment, the Palmerston North City Council can’t do what they wish. They can’t follow the process that they normally would. This bill and the work of Tangi Utikere—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! Order! With apologies to the member, could members on my left, if they wish to have a conversation, could they be seated? Thank you.

I don’t blame the members. I’m just as excited about this bill as they are, and we’re all very excited to see it passed. Absolutely. I mean, the point being here is that what the council have indicated that they hope to use this land for is housing. At the moment, I couldn’t think of a better use for a piece of land. This isn’t a controversial proposition. This isn’t some reserve that’s full of native bush or anything like that. This is a piece of land that currently isn’t being used, and it hasn’t been used since the local bowling club, I understand, closed down. The use of this land has been heavily restricted because of the situation that they find themselves in.

It is a shame, I think, that some members have tried to use the debate on this bill to try and make some points about other things, such as the ACT member Simon Court raising three waters. I will point out to the member that the Palmerston North City Council actually supports three waters, so thank you for giving us the opportunity to raise that point in the House.

The point here is that there are many members who have highlighted their love of Palmerston North. As a proud Mastertonian I’m not all that fussed on Palmerston North. The people that live there are lovely, but we have a friendly rivalry. But what we do not want to stop is the opportunity to develop housing. There’s been talk of up to 80 dwellings that could go on this site—all different types, including apartments and medium density. Of course, that’s exactly what all of us here in Parliament should be striving for—the opportunity to see development, the opportunity to encourage houses being built wherever we have that opportunity.

Indeed, just this week, we had the opportunity as members of Parliament to support a piece of legislation that would allow just that. I note that actually it was the ACT Party was the only party that voted against it. Despite proclaiming to be the party against regulations and against red tape and against Government interfering in things, it would appear that unless it comes to the situation where the voters of Epsom don’t like it, then they change their values.

So what we have here is another opportunity for members of Parliament to actually get behind a straightforward, basic, simple piece of legislation.

💬 Hon Member: Well, imagine if Resource Management Act reforms were like that.

All that this would do is—I might have struck a nerve. They haven’t said much all day and now they’re trying to shout it down. But the point remains, I hope that the ACT Party does vote for this bill, because what this bill will do is actually allow the council to start a process, and, I suspect, from what we’ve heard tonight and from what the local MP Tangi Utikere has said, that the council will get community support to allow these houses to be built, but they can’t even seek that support unless this bill gets the support of Parliament. Again, I commend the member for bringing it, working with his council, bringing a local bill forward, and I also commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can I thank members from right across the House for their unwavering support, it seems, for this local bill. And, Madam Speaker, can I acknowledge you, because I know that you have a connection to Palmerston North, and you’ll be pleased to know that I will be visiting your old high school, Freyberg High School, on Friday. Each time I do, your photo hangs on the wall in the reception area as one that they particularly like to reflect upon, so I acknowledge you and your connection to my fine city.

I want to just reflect on the contributions from around the House this afternoon and to thank members. My colleague Rachel Boyack, obviously a local advocate for her former city, Palmerston North, and the connection with Palmerston North Girls’ High, which is obviously extremely close to the piece of land that we are referring to, and also reflecting on her comments that the caucus committee around Government and local government were able to visit Palmerston North earlier in the year and were able to see the partnership opportunity that the Palmerston North City Council has in terms of a housing development at Papaioea Place. So that’s a very strong connection.

Can I respond to the comments expressed by the Hon Eugenie Sage in that she is right: partnerships are very important, and what the select committee process does allow for is for the community and the council to demonstrate a level of support but also acknowledging that from a process perspective, this is about changing or lifting the designation of a piece of land so that the council will be in a flexible position to be able to do something differently if it so chooses to go down that particular path.

Can I also thank colleagues for their comments—their reflections, I guess—in that this piece of land is in close proximity to a number of amenities, a number of recreational spaces. The member for Rangitīkei referring to the rose garden, the Dugald Mackenzie Rose Garden, which, yes, did, as he suggests, celebrate the Pride of Palmy, which was actually a specific rose that was released recently in recognition of the city’s 150th—sesquicentennial—anniversary. I have to say I’ve got two of them growing in my garden and they’re doing very, very well at the moment as well. But this is about an opportunity to support a council that is wishing to be progressive, wishing to be innovative, that is vibrant. Those are three words that I’ve heard around the Parliament this afternoon. When we step back and have a look at what is proposed, we do need to appreciate that this will be subject to the select committee process.

Just on that point, I know that Mr McKelvie was questioning why this may not be going to the Governance and Administration Committee. I have to say that, to be fair, it probably could go to that or it could go to Environment. I reflected back into 2007, when this bill was last before the Parliament, on where it went. Unfortunately, it’s not helpful that it went to the Local Government and Environment Committee. So it did mean that there has to be a separation here, but I do think that the Environment Committee is the appropriate place, given that it’s dealing with a reserve status of land. I do in advance, though, apologise to the hard-working members of the Environment Committee for yet another piece of important work that they will undertake, but I’ll be with you as part of that.

What I do want to indicate in closing is that this process will be subject to a public process. If this bill does make it through select committee, second reading, committee of the whole House, and then through to third reading, the council will still be required to make a decision at a future date, if they choose to, in a public forum. So this is not effectively indicating that it’s a done deal; it’s indicating that this is something that the council have approached me as the local member that they wish to pursue this, that the local bill avenue is the way in which local councils and territorial authorities seek to pursue that, and that there is a process that will form part and parcel of all of that.

I repeat that I’m satisfied that many of the hurdles that we have identified in the earlier contribution around, you know, engagement with Rangitāne but also the level of notification, the level of community engagement, and also the proximity to reserves within the area have satisfied me that those are issues that won’t hold this up from a procedure or a process point of view. I’m delighted to, if the Parliament is of a mind, effectively approve the first reading, see this through the select committee process. Again, I commend this to the House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

The question is, That the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Bill be considered by the Environment Committee.

Motion agreed to.

Bill referred to the Environment Committee.