THANK YOU, TCDC !!
Well last week the infamous bund in Whitianga, that residents have been requesting TCDC to install for the past three and a half years, finally came to fruition. The bund was needed to protect about 10 residential properties’, from being flooded by Mother Browns Creek during major weather events such as Cyclone Gabriel in 2023 and again in January this year, where residents suffered severe flooding due to the low banks of the creek overflowing.
Thank you to Deputy Mayor John Grant who has been championing this project for us for the entire time, and putting up with my hounding him. Thanks also to his fellow Councillors that supported it as well; without all of them this would not have got done.
To Richard Shelford Woodcock and his team from the Mercury Bay Community Board for all their help and support in getting this over the line during times of frustration and despair.
Finally, to Trevor Ammundsen and The Informer who pushed the cause for us, and kept it to the front of minds, I’m sure that was instrumental as well, in getting this across the line.
On behalf of the affected neighbours and property owners, we sincerely thank you all.
Kevin Shaw, Whitianga
Dismay over ‘No change’ soothsayers
I have been reading with dismay the ongoing articles by certain people regarding the proposed council Amalgamations with other councils.
As rate payers we have bemoaned the outrageous increases in rates. the lack of communication and accountability of TCDC Especially unelected staff and managers, who have power to promote their Agendas, without recourse to the ratepayers.
Articles of pending doom if we dare pursue an alternative to our flawed existing council structure; these soothsayers of doom haven’t given any hard evidence of what the apocalyptic outcome will be if we chose the Amalgamation options.
Amalgamation has been proven to expand the knowledge base, give savings through economies of scale and opportunities and a positive change to the Status Quo.
I for one want change. Option 4 just entrenches the existing system that is not working. There is vested interest at work here not to embrace change, that many ratepayers want, and to 1500 respondents out of the total population of the Coromandel is not by any stretch of the imagination, a majority.
Steve Clay
Local Representation – lateral thinking needed!
As a long-time rate payer, I am increasingly concerned about the direction local government appears to be heading. It seems the current Government wants greater influence over local government while also forcing councils to amalgamate and become larger, all in the name of “efficiency”. I’m yet to see convincing evidence that bigger councils automatically deliver better outcomes. What is lost in such a process is any genuine local representation.
I live in the small seaside town of Whitianga. So, let me suggest a different future.
Imagine we have a truly local Mayor supported by a small team – perhaps even a dog at the front door. Someone you can talk to without navigating layers of bureaucracy. Someone who knows the community, understands local issues, and has earned the trust of the people they represent. Someone who is accountable first and foremost to their community, not to Hamilton and/or Wellington.
Critics will immediately ask about infrastructure and how major projects would be funded and managed. My answer is simple: Keep and strengthen, not abolish, the existing Regional Councils to oversee the larger strategic issues. Local councils should focus on local representation and local decision making, while regional or national bodies manage major infrastructure where it makes sense.
This approach could deliver the best of both worlds: strong local representation combined with efficient management of large-scale projects.
As we head towards another election, I hope the other political parties, and their local representatives, are prepared to think differently about local government. Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes the best solutions are those that bring decision-making closer to the people it affects.
Richard Todd, Whitianga
From the Bailys – thank you, off to Tonga
We are very grateful for the generous donations received and would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed. It is truly humbling to see the kind words of support that people have written.
We have also received some amazing donations of testing equipment and hearing aids that will be so useful in providing improved hearing services to the Tongan community.
The winner of the double geothermal pool pass, kindly donated by The Lost Spring in Whitianga, has been notified by email. Thanks also to The Coromandel Informer for the great article.
Again thank you very much on behalf of VSA and ourselves for all of your generous donations, it is greatly appreciated and will be used to support our work with the people of Tonga.
https://volunteer-service-abroad.raiselysite.com/melissa-and-chris-baily
Melissa and Chris Baily
From Whitianga to Tonga
Turn-around thinking after election
Councillors get elected on the assumption that they will tell the government what we want as ratepayers and immediately after being sworn into office, they turn around and start telling us what the government wants from us.
2,800 submissions.
Council only counted 1,300 and concluded that 54% of them had voted for Option 3. So they went ahead with no idea where it would lead them.
In fact a further 1,500 submissions had voted for an option 4 which means that 54% of the rate-payers had voted for a specific option 4 … the status quo, TCDC as it is now.
A number of Option 4’s raised their heads prior to the council’s vote. Some kind of option 4 became of great interest and now becomes of vital importance to us all.
We must devise a new way of looking after ourselves and our local environment according to local means and will.
We can deal directly with central government from our home wards – no interference from a regional or district authority.
Independence must be sought, it cannot be left to others ever again. The council as it stands serves no useful purpose for the community, thus all discussion around a possible Option 4 or way forward will have to exclude all direction from the present system.
Very few of the current council staff will have the skills we are looking for. The Informer, is already installed as the hub of this discussion.
I suggest a website is set up into which all residents and rate-payers in the Mercury Bay Ward can promote their ideas, see others’ ideas and make judgements as to the best way forward – The Informer website.
John Veysey, Thames Coast
Amalgamation lost my vote
The government will not be getting my vote in November’s election. It has imposed an ill-thought-out council amalgamation without proper stakeholder consultation or a mandate.
Somewhere up the food-chain has come a vested interest initiative to do this top-down imposition. ‘Do it or we will do it for you’ is definitely bullying behaviour. Is this ‘protesting in the streets’ way to go? Nope, NZers are docile when following government direction because we believe in stable governance and democracy.
The previous amalgamation has not been beneficial, or cheaper, so why pursue this failed path?
In its public options the TCDC did not offer the ‘Stand alone’ Option yet the Coromandel is unique in coast length and DOC estate, suitable for a unitary authority. Did our Councillors listen to us the public before voting on this issue? The survey results d not reflect the true picture. With the government leaning on them, they needed backbone to resist the pressure.
Peter Wood, Whitianga
Too Long a list of List MPs
In 1993 I voted against MMP.
I am now in favour of MMP but with some concerns.
So when the Prime Minister said he intends to have a referendum on constitutional matters including MMP, I felt it was time.
Many matters are governed by a 50% vote.
Constitutional matters generally are governed by the 75% rule.
What is Protected by the 75% Rule?
• The voting age (18 years).
• The continuous maximum term of Parliament (3 years).
• The method of voting (secret ballot).
• How the country is divided into general and Māori electorates.
• The composition and role of the Representation Commission
Any of these potential changes require 75% of NZers to approve. That is a high threshold.
The worst aspect of MMP is we have a system of 60 elected MPs, and 60 list MPs. The general public has no input in who the 60 list MPs are, and they get no opportunity to question or debate with these potential list MPs.
If they did, the number of potential list MPs available would be very large. The reality is that there would be very little achieved by any such scrutiny.
However, having 60 MPs in the House of representatives who are all not elected seems to me to be less that truly demographic.
My uneducated guess would be that a number nearer to 30 of list MPs would achieve the aims of the original MMP designs.
Pete Bould, Whitianga
