This year’s Christchurch City Council rates debate should provide us all with a strong reminder that it is vital to try and define what we want for our city, now and in the future.

This has been one of the toughest rate rounds I have taken part in as a number of commitments we made as a Council have come closer to completion and final costs.

I think it is important that while we confront the need to keep cutting costs we also take time to remind ourselves why some of these costs have come to be.

Of the “biggies” on the present “to do” list, two areas are about improving the quality of core functions, while the third is about completing the enhancement of our city.

There are three main project areas impacting on the cost of our rates.

They are the new Art Gallery, rubbish disposal costs and the treatment and discharge of our wastewater.

First, let’s look at the new Art Gallery. It is the last of the enhancement projects that this city required if it was to stay in the running as a modern developing city.

Other enhancement projects, such as the Convention Centre, this Council had the courage to back, have already helped generate a multimillion dollar return to the regional economy.

Our cultural standing and reputation also needed a huge upgrade to match up to our past, present and potential future as a major Australasian city in cultural terms.

It is another area that looks “soft” but that with investment and backing can actually produce huge dividends.

Our wastewater question has already produced huge amounts of debate and passion. Our application to get a consent for improved discharge into the Estuary has already drawn huge public interest.

Along the way the fact that the discharge quality will be hugely improved has been obscured.

So has the fact that, if the application fails, the next option, an ocean outfall, will mean we have to find another $41 million to fund it.

We face intense pressure from the public to try and achieve two very different aims.

On one hand we are told costs must be cut, while on the other we hear that the quality of core activities like wastewater treatment and discharge must be dramatically improved.

It is similar to the same set of pressures that apply to the rising costs of how, and where, we dispose of our other rubbish.

Again we hear that people want us to reduce waste, cut costs and find a better way to dump that which remains.

These are simply issues for which there are no easy answers.

Rest assured that if there was a bumper-sticker slogan solution to how to both grow our city and at the same time keep vital costs down I would be doing it already.

We have entered a time in this city’s life where the problems are those of common-good issues that require everyone to take a share of the responsibility.

We are genuinely in a difficult position until we can all at least begin to understand the issues at stake.

For example, the recent proposal to drop supplying rubbish bags and move to a “polluter pays” system made coherent scientific sense.

I was utterly against the idea because I am convinced that the public has yet to be given the facts and background to support such a move.

It was another example of how with the best of intentions we sometimes start talking about solving issues before you have been presented with the outline of the problem.

It is akin to suddenly dropping you off at the movies two thirds of the way through a film and then expecting informed debate about the topic.

We plan to start that debate going properly soon, before we again go anywhere near a radical new change of direction.

While we try and meet the demands of a modern city we will also work hard to cut the budget further through our Budget Scrutiny and Audit Committee.

Like any business, we should be prepared to go over and over our budget, looking for economies line by line.

We will also be aware that one of our proudest claims to fame as a city is that we do have rates that are radically lower than those of any other major New Zealand city.

We will also continue our tradition of making our commonly owned assets work for this city. Without the dividends from assets like the port and airport your rates would be dramatically higher.

It is also worth pointing out that interest from the Orion money is also aimed at keeping rates down. We have enjoyed great good fortune as a city over the years.

I’m sure that with good management and good will we will be able to continue this state of affairs.