Flood-hit Polly Gillespie accuses Wellington Mayor Andrew Little of optics over action during flood response
High-profile former radio host Polly Gillespie believes Wellington Mayor Andrew Little prioritised “optics” over action after he turned up to her flooded neighbourhood wearing a microphone during a recent state of emergency.
Little has said he has empathy for Gillespie’s situation, but didn’t accept “for one moment” that he was not responding to the public’s concerns.
Gillespie’s Ōwhiro Bay property was damaged when severe weather caused flash flooding in the capital in April, with a stream bursting its banks and flooding her home with “ankle deep water and silt”.
The region was put under a state of emergency, with 40 properties deemed uninhabitable due to damage and one man killed in the storm.
Gillespie said she has been out of her home for seven weeks and has been sleeping on her daughter’s couch while her home is repaired.
Her comments about Little came during an appearance on Newstalk ZB’s Wellington Mornings show on Friday, when asked by host Nick Mills about proposed local government reforms.
“I’m not very happy with the council at the moment,” the former broadcaster-turned-counsellor said.
“My house was terribly affected as was everyone in my neighbourhood, and the council and the mayor turned up in dress shoes, mic’d up, with a drone ... and I said, ‘this is all about the optics, what are you actually going to do?’”
Gillespie said the visit came across like a “publicity tour”, rather than genuinely trying to help those impacted.
Little has disputed her claims, saying there was no drone, and he was wearing gumboots.
The council has launched a mayoral relief fund in partnership with the Wellington City Mission. Gillespie said she was engaging with the City Mission, which was working to support her and had been “wonderful”.
Her main concern remained the safety of a nearby stream, which she believes needs to be reinforced to prevent a future flood, but she said despite her efforts, the council had yet to address the issue.
“There seems to be meetings for meetings to have meetings around other meetings, I just want some action.”
She said in trying to get the issue addressed, Wellington City Council referred her on to Greater Wellington Regional Council, which put her in touch with Wellington Water, which put her back on to city council, and so on.
“It was like, ‘somebody do something,’” she said.
Gillespie, who recently starred on Celebrity Treasure Island, said the flooding incident was “still traumatising”, particularly whenever the weather was bad.
She said she believed Little cared and that council staff were trying to help, but was frustrated by what she believed was a lack of action, and felt progress had been too slow.
In response to Gillespie’s comments, Little said in a statement he has “real empathy for what Ms Gillespie endured in the flooding, alongside many other Wellingtonians”.
“Throughout the week I visited many affected residents and businesses to check on their welfare, hear their concerns and offer to connect them with support,” Little said.
He said a group of locals from Gillespie’s street had reached out to councillors asking to meet, which he did on April 23.
He helped organise building inspections and referrals to the welfare team during the meeting, which he said Gillespie attended.
A lapel microphone had been placed on his jacket in preparation for a subsequent media announcement but it was not live at the time, Little said.
“There was no drone. I was wearing gumboots.”
A photo from that day shows Little speaking to media in a pair of gumboots.
Responding to the claims on Mills’ show on Monday morning, Little said he had held a number of meetings on the ground with those impacted, and had fed their concerns back to the council and other involved organisations.
He said the back and forth between agencies was something that had been raised with him at public meetings and he was looking into how the process could be improved.
“But the idea that somehow I’m not responding to what people are telling me about their situation, I don’t accept that for one moment,” he said.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.