Tauranga Energy Consumers Trust

Let me commend the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust for divesting 6.4% of its holding in Trustpower. This $154.8m divestment makes compelling commercial sense, as this Trust is a cornerstone community fund that needs to be properly diversified. The investment in Trustpower (by TECT) has been a very rewarding one for TECT beneficiaries since it was established in 1993, but over the last five years Trustpower’s earnings have been at best flat, and therefore I commend our TECT Trustees for initiating this diversification. TECT Trustees challenge will be to invest this freed up $154.8m effectively. The track record of some other community trusts, like BayTrust (which was established upon the sale of Trustbank), has not been impressive. We will monitor TECT’s future performance with real interest, as this $800m plus community fund needs to be managed with care to ensure that Tauranga residents continue to strongly benefit in the future.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council

I’m sorry but I can’t be so generous with the Regional Council. While deliberating on the Regional Long Term Plan (LTP) our Regional Councillors were informed that Rotorua residents are paying $8m in rates, and yet are receiving $20m in benefits. The difference of $12m is effectively coming from the pockets of Tauranga and Western Bay ratepayers. As I have said before, I have no issue with unbalanced funding in any one (or two) years, but this has been happening for the last ten years, and the Regional Council’s LTP indicates that it is their intention to continue this practice for at least the next ten years. Tauranga City residents and ratepayers need to rise up in unison and stop this wrought. Our locally elected Regional Councillors need to be held to account. This is plain wrong….

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