Phil Mauger: Christchurch Mayor discusses the Arts Centre's food truck proposal, a new City Council CEO, if Mayors should have direct reporting staff

Christchurch's Mayor isn't swayed either way on a clash between city hospitality and food trucks.  

The Arts Centre Trust is applying for up to 33 food trucks to operate on the site.  

The Central Business Association says that's unfair, given businesses subsidise the centre and commercial rates are higher than residential. 

Mayor Phil Mauger told John MacDonald he sees both sides.  

He says with the museum closed the Centre will want to get money, but 7 days a week is a big shift. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's Podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Zb christ it's me of film majors with us for
a regular catch up morning, philm you want your bud right,
let's talk about the food truck debate. Yes, that we've
been having this morning. So Annibal Turley from the Central
City Business Association turned up to the council meeting yesterday
and said, if they go ahead with these food trucks,
you guys should pull the funding because you're funding an

(00:31):
outfit which is going into competition with us. And I
read a report on that where it said that you
understood or you were sympathetic to the business Association and
the hospital operators. Is that your position?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
I see, I certainly see both sides of the both
sides of the story. To give you a bit of background,
there was thirty three of resource consent went in for
thirty three. It is now down to twenty five. Yes,
that is getting processed at the moment. It's a statutory
process and that will probably end up going to a commissioner.
So we have no say about it. But we can
always think about what we're what we're doing. As I say,

(01:04):
I can see both sides. At the Art Center want
to fill a place up and get more money because
that's what they want to do, because they haven't got
the museum at the moment with a lot of foot
traffic going past bring people in, so they're trying things.
But at the moment, food trucks are mainly on the
weekend because I've been down there and for special events
and stuff like that, and it works really well. But

(01:25):
this is a major change. To do seven days a
week until ten o'clock at night is a big shift. Now.
I also see the side of the of the hospital
people in town, because you've got building owners and tenants
who have in some cases put their heart, soul and
livelihood into making the city the way it is at
the moment, and I can certainly see their side of
the story.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Do you think it's a bit rich though, for them
to be doing this And I've said this several times
ready this morning, when you guys city council and rate
payers have poured truckloads of money into the central city
to revitalize it, get people there so that these businesses
actually have businesses to operate.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Ah, well, it wasn't just us that of the government was
everything after the earthquake. It was good. But don't think.
We've also put money towards the art center, and that's
where there's a bit of consternation. But I'd hate to
see all the empty the remaining empty sites in christ
Church filled up with sort of portable, transportable hospo buildings.

(02:23):
What was it, Well, it's not It's not the way
i'd like to see christ Church be. You imagine, it's
a lot cheaper to put to fill an empty section
up with trailers and food not not not necessarily food tracks.
It can be all sorts of pop up possible at it.
You could do that. Because the developers go, why should
I do this? I'm not going to do that, all right,

(02:44):
But I just hope that we get they get together
and have a solution because it's you know, it's not
a good look.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Right, let's to go off the other things we need
to tack off. When are we going to find out
who the new chief executive is at the council?

Speaker 3 (02:55):
That is in the very final stages and we'll be
announced very shortly.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
All right, I get a phone call. I know, I
know I'm being asked to do a reference check for
somebody there. You go, right, What did you make of
the Insurance Council saying this week that the government needs
to make sure that we stop building buildings in dumb
places because of climate change and sea level change? What
did you make of that?

Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's good the district Plan already allows for that. But
I know what you're saying, Oh, yes, someone building.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Why we're still building new Brighton, Pete.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
The parts in you Brighton that aren't actually going to
get flooded. Just because it's by the coast doesn't mean
to say it's going to be under There's actually areas
further inland a bit by the estuary that are actually
lower than the actual coast. But Plan Change fourteen will
prevent intensification in areas that we've decided. So soon as
Plan Change fourteen goes in, it's not this December, it's

(03:48):
next December. There's nothing to really stop us letting people
build there.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
So you could say to someone you furly Boots build
a new house in south.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
Shore, Yes, yes, and no. You'll notice if you drive
around some areas, and some of the areas are quite strangely.
Drive down a new house here and the floor is
about a meter higher than the ones next door to
I'm sure you see those. They are a new house
and that's what the new and theory flood level is
and I see them and I go, God, if it
floods here, the rest of christ is totally naked. So

(04:20):
if anyone builds in these areas at the moment, they've
got to have the floor at a certain level.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Would you agree though, that until this plan change comes
into effect next December, that building some giving approval to
build in south Shore is kind of done.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yes, But the floor level, the way we look at it,
as long as the house doesn't get flooded. But of
course that's no consolation to anyone that the hold right
around that their property is flooded. But the floor level
has to be a certain level, and it goes higher
and higher every year.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Right. This is something we're going to get some talk
back common as well, but I want to get your
response to it that the local government minister has said
that he would like to see mayors have greater power
because he says that it's the elected representatives who know
what people want and know what the what They know
what their constituents want the council to do, and he

(05:10):
thinks there needs to be a bit of a power shift,
similar to what the situation is in Auckland, where you
don't have council staff making decisions and influencing decisions more
than they should, and you have the mayor with more power,
which means more people reporting to the mayor and the
mayor actually you know, being able to point the stick
a bit more. What do you think of that?

Speaker 3 (05:30):
As you say, Auckland is different to anyone anywhere else
in the country. I think Wayne's got about twenty two
million dollars to spend on his office every year, and
he can hire and fire people in his office at
his leisure.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
How would you like that?

Speaker 3 (05:46):
I can get enough trouble with the one I've got
the system we have with the council, council, laws and
council and mayor employ the CE. The CE has a
lovely job of looking after two and a half three
thousand people. And there is a fine line. Say if
sometimes if councilors go and wander down and talk to staff,

(06:06):
some staff feel intimidated because they think counselors and mayor
special people. We're not, We're just ordinary people. But it
is intimidating for some staff. So we've got to have
that line between us through the CE, just a general
line of communication.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Because you got in trouble with that that has.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Been known to hell and then took the wrong turn
out of the lift and I had to take me aside.
Sometimes say listen here, sunny Jim.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
What do you say to people who have this, Well,
it's an impression, perception, understanding, knowledge, What do you want
to call it? That council staff have more sway than
elected members.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
It's I think in the past or was a bit
of that. It is, it is a lot, It is
a lot better now we're getting It all comes down
to the report that counselors get. And sometimes I feel
sorry for myself. I feel sorry for counselors. You get
a staff person that has worked on a report for
probably two weeks, maybe even long might be months. They
know every tears and eyes, got it, and they know

(07:03):
it like the back of the end because they built it.
They throw in front of us, so we've got about
four days to read it. We're not brain surgeons that
can pick not all of us that can pick up
this stuff and instantly know it.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
So so they do have quite a bit of sway.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
That they they put their heart and soul into the reports.
So what we've got to do is make sure the
report's nice and clear. No one likes long reports, Like
if something's bagged, just say Phil, it's bag it. I
don't need to see a whole page telling me a
thousand things to get to the bottom and then I
know it's bag it. So sometimes we can shorten up
these reports and make life a lot easier for everyone.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
All right, So just to wind that up, would you
like to have more people reporting to you or not?
You're not the system.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
The system we've gotten, christ.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yurch works very well, all right. Nice to see you
you in two weeks take care of christis Mere Film Majors.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
For more from Catbory Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
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