Regional Council’s planning process is a joke

One has to ask… What is the point of submitting to Regional Council Annual Plans?

In January I wrote a 13 page submission to the Regional Council’s Land Transport Plan 2015 to 2045. I wanted to be heard but was only given one date, with only one weeks’s notice. I couldn’t make that date, so my submission wasn’t heard in person. As a former Regional Councillor I know that if you want to have your submission taken seriously you have to be heard in person. In this case, not only was I unable to present my case in person, I now see that the committee has deliberated, and the Regional Council has resolved to accept the recommendations of the hearing committee, and yet the Regional Council hasn't even had the decency to reply to my written submission….

The Draft (30 year) Regional Transport Plan 2015-2045 was, in my opinion, one of the “lightest” pieces of work that I have read in a long time. It lacked real vision, and was not written in “plain English” which is a policy requirement adopted by the Regional Council. The full Council, in adopting this Plan, shows a lack of good governance, and confirms to me that this Regional Council needs a massive shake up. Yes they are doing some good catchment work for the rivers and streams that flow into the Tauranga Harbour, but the financial commitment to reversing the sediment that is daily increasingly destroying our beautiful harbour, is just a joke. This Council receives (via its CCO, Quayside Holdings) around $40m a year in dividend income from the Port of Tauranga, and yet will only commit a couple of million dollars back into the harbour’s maintenance. Instead the money is wasted on bureaucratic staff, who love to write reports, yet achieve very little.

If you think the proposed 8.5% rate increase is just for next year, then you need to think again. Your Regional Council has plans for even bigger increases in each of the next few years! Furthermore, Tauranga and Western Bay ratepayers, instead of having their rates spent in their area, continue to subsidise Rotorua and Eastern Bay ratepayers, year after year. I will get to the bottom of the actual amount of cross subsidisation, and report in a future publication. But for now, be assured that Rotorua ratepayers are bleeding Tauranga City ratepayers dry.

If you have a view on these or any other local government issues, I invite you to email me at andrew@vond.co.nz

Regional Council propose an 8.5% rate increase - outrageous

Feedback from my last editorial was that our Regional Council was indignant that I said that they received around $40m in dividend income from the 73,687,536 shares owned by Quayside Holdings (their 100% subsidiary) in Port of Tauranga. I didn’t drill into the detail in which Quayside issued $200m of perpetual preference shares (effectively borrowing from investors), and therefore part of this $40m dividend goes towards paying interest to these investors. However BOP Regional Council receive the interest on the $200m plus an approximatey $4m a year in tax credits, with the proviso that they spend this money on regional infrastructure initiatives. This was a really smart move by our regional council which has seen that $200m fund grow substantially. I would note however that this was established in 2008, and yet 7 years on the Bay of Plenty hasn’t seen much of this promised infrastructural spend.

Come on BOP Regional Council – an 8.5% proposed rate rise for our ratepayers is a disgrace. Regional Councillors are elected (by us) to use their governance skills to put a blow torch to inefficiency and ineffectiveness, and yet they continue to allow an already bloated bureaucracy to continue in what can only be described as “out of control.”

If you have a view on these or any other local government issues, I invite you to email me.

Selloff of Tauranga's Inner City Greenspace

Tauranga City Councillors say they want to reduce Council’s debt – but this is just a red herring. Debt is not the issue – cost escalation is. If they reduce staff, and become more efficient and effective, then the debt will be manageable. Unfortunately our Councillors just can’t see it….

An example of their incompetency is the proposed selloff of our inner city greenspace. Council is currently looking to sell off the greenspace (parkland) that bounds the Takatimu Drive Motorway, from Fourth to Eighth Avenue.

• This is the entrance to our City – the first impression visitors get went entering Tauranga.

• Once sold off it can never be replaced. Our City Councillors are showing NO VISION; No respect for our future generations.

• This is about existing (consulted on) TCC policy of Work/Live/Play. TCC Plans value greenspace, but our current Councillors think they can ride roughshod over the residential community – they can’t!

Local residents are taking their fight to TCC – we are fighting back. This is not about view shafts; it is about protecting our greenspace. If you want to help – contact me and sign our petition. We have close to 1,000 signatures already, and we need to make TCC Councillors accountable to those that elect them…

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