So, we have a new Council. And a new chance for Wellington. And, just perhaps, a Council less inclined to squabble.

I’m really glad that Leonie Gill has been ousted – some people can’t take a hint that they should enjoy their retirement. I hope she can enjoy it now it is compulsory. And of course John Morrison has done his chips – at last Wellington will be blessed without the mustachioed one. A fairly close run race though – a very close result. But, in the end, Celia Wade-Brown has increased her majority, and so can rule the roost with impunity. It would have been interesting if Morrison had won – he would have had to live up to some of those grandiose bullshit promises he had been making. Now, we’ll never know.

Rex Nichols too did not get a vote – it would have been Kerry by Proxy, methinks, and I think we have probably had enough of that. We’ve lost the Pepperrel, gained a Sparrow and a Woolf, and got a Free councilor as well. In fact we almost had two Woolfs, which almost makes a Woolf pack… No pack, but we do have a Peck. And we have a Young as well. Hmmm, Young Free Woolf Peck, and Sparrow. Sounds like something from One Direction. No, I’m not making these names up. These people really exist. And, are going to be governing our lives for the next three years.

It’s interesting though, because what we have seems to be a Council with a clearly slightly left of centre bias. Votes will not be stymied by a right wing block on Council. Indeed, if this current new group of Councillors had been given the chance to vote on the Flyover, they may have had the nerve to say no thank you. Now, of course, it’s too late for the Council to do anything else but go ahead, thanks to Councillor Foster’s infamous casting vote some months back. But it always makes me wonder, just what would NZTA have come up with if they had been given the thumbs down over the Flyover? What would their Plan B have been? Cos no matter what, you always have to have a Plan B. Now, we’ll never know.

So, the Council hasn’t even had time to get their knees under the desks yet, but already we are all starting to think about what we want out of this Council. The laws of politics being what they are, the next Council after this will probably be a swing to the right, so we had best make good use of this one while we have it. Three years in which to get some core green principles in place. A decent separated cycle-path network for starters, I’m picking. Adelaide Road sorted. Spine study out of the way, and decent public transport implemented. Redesign of major intersections to be more pedestrian and cycle-friendly. Something resolved about the airport.

What is on your birthday wish list for the brand new Council?

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