Our website is currently under construction — thank you for your patience.

This Week’s Issue

Letters to the Editor

LETTERS – 2 Sept 2025

Want to promote your business or idea?

We Support Local

Written by

Published on

September 2, 2025

The purpose of the Letters to the Editor column is to enable members of the public to express an opinion, about an article or a topic of interest/concern. Please keep them to 200 words or less. These letters do not reflect the editor’s view. The editor reserves the right to edit and decide what is…

Where are the boats at Kopu Wharf?

Every time I drive over the Kopu bridge I look north at the commercial wharf.

This was a regional investment. It was to be a commercial success and self-funding. What a joke. I have only seen one small vessel tied up in all the time since it was installed costing someone (taxpayers and probably ratepayers) millions.

Anybody involved in promoting, supporting, approving or anything else connected with this financial disaster must not be allowed on any Community Board or as a TCDC Councillor. And especially not as Mayor.

Pete Bould, Whitianga

Response to Dennis Tegg re ”the sky is falling’’

Denis Tegg has a short memory. He conveniently forgets how Labour’s misguided Three Waters plan was so soundly rejected by voters at the last election.

It was a pie in the sky misguided scheme that would have seen local ratepayer funded water infrastructure assets acquired by compulsion and placed into a handful of co-governed mega water entities.

The current government’s Local Water Done Well plan keeps decision making and asset ownership in local hands. Decisions will continue to be made by locally elected council representatives.

Yes, in my view a co-operative arrangement between Thames- Coromandel, Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga councils would have been a good outcome for ratepayers in each area.

The decision by Western Bays not to support the plan is, I think, unfortunate, but it doesn’t mean that Mr Tegg’s ‘the sky is falling’ narrative has any validity at all.

Ultimately the shape and form of Local Water Done Well initiatives will be decided by locally elected representatives and that’s how it should be.

Scott Simpson, National MP

To the Coromandel community,

I want to express my deepest thanks for all you have given to Daffodil Day, with particular thanks to our local volunteers and area coordinators.

While it may be our biggest fundraising event of the year, Daffodil Day carries special meaning and to many of us it is about connection, compassion, and hope.

The daffodil continues to stand as a figurehead for the 1 in 3 New Zealanders who will face a cancer diagnosis. When we come together each August, we are reminding those on the journey that they are seen, supported, and surrounded by a community determined to make a difference. It was truly an honour to witness so much of our region painted yellow.

Over the past year, we have:

• accommodated 2,696 guests at the Cancer Society’s Lions Lodge

• contributed $252,583 to cancer research

• driven 104,657km taking our clients to their cancer treatment

• provided 19,289 direct client services

These figures reflect the scale of the need – and the importance of your role in helping us meet it. As cancer rates rise, our resolve to be here for every person who hears “you have cancer” only grows stronger.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to every donor, volunteer, business, school, community group and staff member who contributed to Daffodil Day this year. Together, we are not just tackling cancer. We are building a future where no one faces cancer alone, and where hope grows stronger with every year.

I hope we’ll see you again for Daffodil Day 2026.

Ngā mihi nui.

Helen Carter, Chief Executive, Cancer Society Waikato/Bay of Plenty

Dog attacks and the role of Council

Tairua has now made it to the national news with an interesting article on dog attacks. It seems strange that a person is allowed to keep dangerous dogs that are unregistered.

That these dogs have caused bodily harm and could have killed the victim is dreadful.

The continued inaction of the TCDC regarding taking dog attack seriously, begs the question, what are our paid staff doing? Unregistered dogs should be immediately impounded.

Wandering dogs should also be impounded.

I have little doubt that when a local is killed, the TCDC will make all manner of excuses, but still manage to avoid action.

We pay substantial rates. What do we get for our money? Not even chocolate biscuits!

Neville Cameron, Coromandel.

One man, one vote

In response to Mr Rasmussen’s article last week about Maori Wards not being democratic. He stated:

“One person, one vote and equal vote weight – a foundational demographic principle… Each vote must have relatively equal voter parity.”

I fully agree – ONE MAN, ONE VOTE!

So how come he failed to mention or even address the unfair multiple votes allowed to non-resident ratepayers?

Why should someone who pays rates on a holiday home, rental property, shop, commercial or industrial business, trust, society or club have multiple voting right in local council elections?

Where’s the democracy in that?

Voter parity – I don’t think so!

One could argue that wealth, multiple property owners get an unfair advantage.

No wonder our town sounds like just another suburb, with it’s far right, racist rhetoric!

Deborah Phillips, Whitianga

Commercial development not keeping pace

The opinion piece by Ben Grubb was both disappointing and misleading. By framing industry as an “eyesore,” you ignore the reality that Whitianga has grown beyond what retail and tourism alone can support. This town has become the hub of the Coromandel Peninsula, yet we are left with a massive shortage of commercial property – a problem your paper should be helping highlight, not burying under fear of “ugliness.”

There are already a number of well-established local companies struggling to find suitable commercial premises to run their businesses from. The supply of commercial property in Whitianga has been tight for some time, and landlords know it. Rental pricing reflects this pressure, sitting well above normal market levels. This is not a one-off situation but an ongoing trend: when demand far outweighs supply, rents rise, and businesses are left paying unsustainable premiums that hold back growth, job creation, and the long-term balance of our economy.

The choice of image – cars parked outside a long-standing local garage – was particularly troubling. That business has been part of Whitianga for decades, serving locals and visitors alike. To present their yard as if it represents the problem risks unfairly damaging their reputation and livelihood. Industry is not the enemy here.

We are also very aware of how hospitality, retail, and tourism have struggled in recent years, and more recently even our tradies have felt the pinch from the economic slowdown. The winter struggles are real for most local businesses. More employment – which comes from industrial and commercial growth – would help soften these blows. More full-time jobs mean more families, more stability, and ultimately more population to support all of our local businesses. Remember: you must have a community before you can have a business.

The real failure has been that infrastructure and commercial development outside of residential housing have not kept pace or been prioritised as they should have been. Too often, Council has listened to the wrong people and blocked common-sense development from going ahead. Instead of demonising industry, the focus should be on Council delivering a clear vision: where growth happens, how it looks, and how it benefits locals.

The truth is, without commercial expansion, we cannot create sustainable jobs. Families need more than seasonal tourism work. Young people need a reason to stay. Businesses like mine want to invest in Whitianga, but we need the Council – and our local media – to support growth, not undermine it.

Rick Burgess, Whitianga – Mercury Bay Hi-Ab Services Limited

Whitianga Sportsground Background

In 2000 a large development company, Hopper’s, brought into Whitianga a waterway’s concept to promote a new process in the development of the area. It was truly innovative as the town of Whitianga and it’s environs was built on a flood plain. To achieve this the Hopper’s purchased two farms, which was then about half the total area of Whitianga.

In this area, Hopper’s introduced a canal system that equals in their planning some of the great countries in the world, United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. The development continued through the 2000’s despite many criticisms from the Greenies, protestors and people who felt that Whitianga was changing from a small coastal town to a rich man’s destination. What a load of rubbish this was and the positive people of our town encompassed the development with enthusiasm.

Two aspects of the plan were to include a medical facility and sportsground that would service a population of over 20,000 people. What a challenge!! These two aspects were to be zoned and prepared by Hopper’s and then taken over by Council to complete the projects. Council from there would appoint two groups to facilitate the process . They also put a charge on ratepayers to assist the funding of the scheme which ended up as ‘money down the drain’. Luckily the Medical Facility was resolved and taken over by private investors.

After much deliberation, I have come up with a thought that would bring an outcome for the Whitianga Sportsground without jeopardising the Council’s ownership of the land:

1. Set up a committee to lease the land from Council with a Trust Board to complete the project

2. This would be similar to the Te Awamutu sporting complex who financed their operation with donations and grants

There are many of these concepts throughout the country that do not compound on the ratepayers, in other words ‘User Pays”

3. I believe that to set up the Trust would have to include:

a) Chairperson of Mercury Bay Community Board

b) Chairperson of Combined Ratepayers Group

c) Councillor from Mercury Bay Ward

d) Financial advisor

e) Two prominent residents of Mercury Bay

f) The President and Secretary chosen from the above

This report is only my suggestion on resolving a situation that has gone on for many years. We must act now or lose it completely!

Noel S. Hewlett, T.C.D.C Councillor 1998/2010

One-hour showers or install your own meter

Addressing MM’s concerns (26/8 Issue The Informer) about excess water charges for non-metered users, I imagine the experts realized that non-metered users would of course take one-hour showers and leave the sprinkler running 24/7/365 days a year rather than saving it like those of us who are metered. The result; they charged them more. A bit like an ‘all you can eat’ restaurant. They charge more, to allow for those who don’t know when to stop eating.

The main difference is that homeowners can’t easily move to somewhere with a meter. If council can’t afford to pay to install the 9000 meters they have in the cupboard (and they can’t), let the homeowners pick one up and install it themselves. If you have a water tap where the mains enters your property, how hard can it be to fit a meter next to it. You’ll probably save the cost with your first water bill.

Martin Spinks, Thames