YOUR INDUSTRY
FOUR VIEWS FROM WOULD-BE AUCKLAND MAYORS ON PUKEKOHE Glenys Christian
Wayne Brown – supporter of elite soils
Viv Beck – land needs to be used appropriately
Wayne Brown has a very personal perspective when it comes to protecting the growing of vegetables around Pukekohe
“Growers need to be interested in these cost over-runs,” he says. “The city is not doing as well as it should.”
“Growers won’t have a more favourable mayor than me,” he says. That’s because along with involvement in a number of other businesses, Wayne grew a range of crops near Kerikeri in Northland, such as export pumpkins, tamarillos, watermelon and kiwifruit. “That was quite a long time ago but it doesn’t leave you,” he says. “I’m a great believer in supporting our elite soils.” And if elected as Auckland mayor, Wayne says one of his first moves will be to sit down with council planners and look at what zoning changes can be made so these soils can be protected so growers can continue their businesses. He also wants to highlight and raise awareness of food security. He knows the Pukekohe area well, owning commercial buildings in the town. And when he has subdivided and developed property elsewhere in the past, he says he’s chosen to do it on poorer soils. “I know what’s involved in getting a resource consent. And I know what powers councils have and what they don’t.” Wayne's main platform was to stop Auckland Council wasting money by finishing projects before they start new ones. 44 NZGROWER : MAY 2022
Viv Beck says while it is early days in her policy development, she has watched the issue of food security being highlighted during the Covid-19 lockdowns in Auckland. “It’s important to use land appropriately,” she says. “And it concerns me that growers might be stopping production or having to move because of costs going up. It’s an unfavourable outcome.” She plans to visit Pukekohe early in her campaign and find out more about why housing developments are happening on prime growing land. Viv has been chief executive of Heart of the City, promoting Auckland businesses, since 2015. Before that, she was the communications director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT) in Wellington. She wants to remove the Auckland fuel tax and look at the possibility of congestion charges in the central city. “It really concerns me that fruit and vegetable prices are going up,” Viv says. “It’s important that people have access to them.” In principle she believes removing GST from such purchases could be a good idea.
