The following questions have been asked of candidates in the Mayoral race; Q1. Could you support a vision to make Wellington the healthiest city in NZ and then the world? Jo Coughlan: Yes Andy Foster: Wellington is already a city of active people, and that means healthy people. Our hills, harbour side walkways, easy walkability, not having lots of large roads to cross for that lunchtime walk or run, or a swim at Oriental Bay all make it easy to be active. I completely support the vision of being more active and healthier. Integrating activity into our daily routines in the way we travel around the city is important especially for people who are time poor Justin Lester: Absolutely! I play a lot of sport, run and bike and want to see Wellingtonian’ s out and about being active too. Nick Leggett: Awaiting a response Helene Richie: Yes. Healthy person is a healthy City. The Council and the Health Board need to work together on this…that is why I am standing for both to be mayor of Wellington and a member of the Health Board. Nicola Young: I want a Wellington where we are free to make positive choices in the way we choose to live our lives. That means my focus must be on ensuring Council focuses on its core business and, to do that, we need to cut waste like the $5.5m of planned expenditure on Frank Kitts Park because I have pledged to freeze rates at inflation. Q2. What importance do you place on sport and recreation in Wellington? Jo Coughlan: Recreating is a key reason why people come and live here. World class cities need world class sporting and recreational facilities. That's why I supported artificial turfs and the ASB sports centre for Wellington. Andy Foster: Personally I am a keen runner, especially mountain running. I love playing football - have done all my life. I also play occasional tennis, cycle (road and mountain bike), tramp, ski, kayak, swim, in fact I'll give most sport and recreation a go. I go to the pool once a week with my children (their swimming lessons) - sometimes I swim, other times read Council papers while on the static bike. Justin Lester: A huge degree of importance for the reason outlined before. As a youngster growing up I know that kids in sport stay out of court too! Nick Leggett: Awaiting a response Helene Richie: Very high Nicola Young: Sport and recreation are just the kinds of choices I want to make sure Wellington offers to its residents and to our visitors. But it's important to ensure that we provide a balanced picture of Wellington’s many free attractions Q3.When considering investments and/or running costs of sport & rec facilities do you off set these with lower health costs and returns to local business communities, and the wellbeing benefits to citizens? Jo Coughlan: There are benefits to having a healthy and active society. So yes in principle! Andy Foster: Council subsidises sport and recreation because of the wider benefits to health and wellbeing of the community, as well as the obvious benefit to the person actually doing the recreation. They are essential parts of the fantastic lifestyle we enjoy in Wellington. Justin Lester: I am very comfortable funding capital investment as well as subsidising the operations of recreation facilities. It’s essential that Wellington City Council steps up because no-one else is sufficiently placed to do it. I want Wellingtonians to be fit, healthy and active. Nick Leggett: Helene Richie: That should be done formally but is not. I do…and that is why Health and Council should work together- amongst other reasons Nicola Young: My focus is on freezing rates to inflation and cutting waste from our budget for the benefit of our city. In addition, the council I lead will focus on its core business of running the city well. Q4. What importance do you place on the affordability of participation for all? Jo Coughlan: Significant. There does need to be some cost recovery, however free swimming for children under 5 is a good initiative Andy Foster: It is important that access to recreation is affordable, which is also why Council has long had a passport to leisure scheme, and why we are always very thoughtful about access charges as a whole. In my view swimming pool entry costs are at the upper level of what people are willing to pay. Justin Lester: A high degree because I’ve seen how important it is from a personal experience. My mum was a beneficiary and couldn’t afford for us to play much club sport or have swimming lessons. As a result I have two brothers that can’t swim very well. I am fortunate to be in a position to pay for club fees and swimming lessons for my own kids, but I recognise lots of families and individuals can’t. I want all kids and adults to be able to participate. Nick Leggett: Awaiting response Helene Richie: Very high-sport and recreation Nicola Young: Community sports are important, and a priority for Council because they're generally more accessible, affordable and local, unlike professional sport which Council should not fund, although it does – including payments from the Council’s (secret) economic growth fund. Council does a good job at providing community facilities, and I remain to be convinced that more needs to be done Q5. While the sport and recreation sector do expect to contribute financially to the running of facilities, in addition to the rates they pay, do you think that the WCC policy to recover as much as 40% from aquatic facilities is fair particularly when other facilities target a 10% contribution and others like libraries and museums are free? Jo Coughlan: I support fair and reasonable cost recovery, however appreciate the costs for codes are an issue. We need to understand the pressures and what is acceptable to meet our goals of greater participation. Andy Foster: The level of cost recovery varies between different activities. In part that reflects historical levels of cost recovery, an the level of possible cost recovery. For example sports fields are used extensively for casual recreation which is impossible to charge for. Marinas are 100% cost recovered, Pools and artificial turfs 40%, Sports fields and Libraries 10%. Pools are increasingly struggling to maintain that 40% Council has spent $30 million in swimming pool upgrades - Keith Spry, Spray/Hydrotherapy at WRAC being the biggest two. We've spent $2.5 million on school pools - especially targeting learn to swim which I see as an absolute priority. Wellington East reopens this summer. That capital spending has barely moved the number of people using Council pools (still around 1.2 million uses a year) but has obviously increased the ratepayer subsidy per swim significantly (it's basically doubled to around $10-11 per swim I led the development of Karori Pool (opened 2001) which wasn't on Councils agenda at all at the time. That has just over 200,000 swimmers per annum compared to 28,000 in the last year as an open air pool. It is after Freyberg easily the best pool in terms of ratepayer subsidy per swim Justin Lester: One of my key policies as Mayor is to make swimming for all under 5s free. I have pledged to do this earlier this year because I know 7 out of 10 kids can’t swim and I think it’s extremely important for kids to be confident in the water. This was introduced earlier this year because my Councillor colleagues thought it was a good idea too! Next I want to remove fees for guardians accompanying under 5s and I want to see if I can make swimming lessons more affordable by partnering with learn-to-swim programmes and swimming clubs. Likewise, I’ve been a strong supporter of the school pools partnership programme, which helps ensure we have good quality school pools in Wellington for learn-to-swim programmes. The point about museums and libraries is quite valid, but it is also complex to compare them with swimming pools as they serve different purposes. WCC anticipates spending $20.9m to operate swimming pools in the 2016/17 financial year in a total recreation budget of $38.9m. In the past two years $4.2m has been spent on upgrades. I am happy to review the current funding policy, but I am conscious any change will have an impact on rates and need to weigh up the financial costs before committing to anything concrete. Nick Leggett: Awaiting response Helene Richie: No Nicola Young: Swimming pools are very expensive to operate. Te Papa established the ‘free entry’ culture, which means other museums have to follow suit. The problem is, our investment in some of our facilities has escalated fast while participation has remained static – that's unsustainable. Q6. Do you consider the double dipping that occurs when the facility is hired yet our members are still required to pay a facility entry fee? Jo Coughlan: It does seem tough that competitors are being charged twice. Andy Foster: No response to this question. Justin Lester: This is unfair. I would have to understand the impact on rates before I commit to changing this, but I have shown through my ‘free swimming for under 5s’ initiative that I will make changes where the benefits outweigh the costs to Council. Nick Leggett: Awaiting a response Helene Richie: I do not understand this question. Are you asking whether you should pay for hiring the facility as individuals or as a group-individuals pay one entry fee for an amazing range of activities e.g.