Rates affordability Debate

Community Wellbeing - Health

Option 1

Residents supporting Option 1 emphasize the importance of maintaining and enhancing services that contribute to public health and environmental sustainability. They argue that services like public transport, composting, and the Eco Design Advisor are essential for promoting healthier lifestyles, reducing environmental impact, and preventing financial hardship due to increased living costs. Additionally, maintaining essential infrastructure and services such as public rubbish bins is seen as crucial for ensuring the cleanliness and overall wellbeing of the community.

Table of comments:

Point No	Comment
500.1	I particulary support increased environmental monitoring and maintenance of key infrastructure, maintainance and increase of public transport and cycling network and investment in arts and community facilities
785.1	Community Compost is actively work to divert food and garden waste from landfills to sequester carbon through healthy soils. In addition, they create living compost to feed into regenerative food systems that promote local and regenerative food production, cultivate community resilience and food security, and support people's physical and mental well-being. Community Compost and Compost Club have been collecting food waste from homes and businesses for the past seven years, and they don't want to stop just because of the newly elected official's legislation changes. I believe that fewer service cuts, like compost, is the best decision for the council to make. Composting will also not increase rates for households and individuals so this is just not true. Please save composting.
887.1	Maintaining essential infrastructure that supports urban intensification, climate action and environmental projects, community organisations and facilities is essential to the health and wellbeing of current and future generations.
948.1	As mentioned above it is presumed that the Eco Design Advisor service is proposed as a service cut under Option 2 to maintain rates affordability. We agree that affordability is a key issue and critical to get right to ensure households in Nelson City are not pushed into financial hardship especially during a cost-of-living crisis. Financial hardship is often linked with a sacrifice of winter heating resulting in unhealthy indoor environments which can lead to poor health outcomes (particularly respiratory illness).Removing the FREE Eco Design Advisor service removes a key support function for households to understand and reduce their energy consumption and alleviate household energy costs. Most Eco Design Advisors also provide advice to support households to reduce their water consumption and in turn reduce water costs. Eco Design Advisors can be empowered with meter data to support their visits and target water efficiency advice where water consumption flags exist.By removing this service, the Council removes a key support function for households to reduce their operational costs exacerbating affordability.Eco Design Advice provided for new build projects supports residents and developers to achieve more energy efficient housing which is resilient to a changing climate. Improved energy efficiency outcomes result in less energy and emissions over the life of the asset. This has the potential to mitigate affordability issues for future generations.
1108.1	I am disappointed to see that you are removing public rubbish bins. I think this is short-sighted and will lead to more rubbish around the city. We do need rubbish bins that rubbish cant blow out of. Happy however to finally see some recycling bins around town. (Good to see that we are finally realising that we are now in the 21st century. Now we just need to recycle it instead of people wasting precious time to sort and wash rubbish only for it to end up in landfill !!!)