It has been brought to our attention via the Kūaotunu Residents and Ratepayers Association that your latest issue carries a gravely incorrect story on its front cover. As you are aware by now the KRRA are not in support of this alliance. Neither are the Otama or Opito groups and there are likely more who would be surprised to see themselves included in this so-called ‘unified’ message. It would be advisable to check which associations do actually support the alliance.
The KRRA in fact enjoys a very good relationship with the council. As our community also holds with the utmost importance matters of conservation and kaitiakitanga, the values of the alliance do not sit well at all with the values of our community and it is upsetting to see our values deceptively declared in this way.
Our personal values (Roimata and Carolyn) also do not align with the declaration that the council should not focus on social services. In a cost of living crisis, where families are often having to choose between heating the house or feeding themselves, a council that does not have any interest in social services would be an inhumane one.
The Informer’s strong bias against the council and Mayor Len Salt is very apparent. However, letting your biases take over from facts is disturbing. We have personally found it distressing to have something stated about our community as fact which is not the truth at all.
You would be well placed to follow journalistic ethics and leave your biases at the door and conduct far more thorough fact checking in future.
