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    • Wgtn Chamber doesn’t add up
      • It was weird to learn today that the Wellington Chamber of Commerce lost two dozen members in June this year, the same month its forlorn fight to amalgamate the region came to an ignominious end. The Chamber claimed a survey of its members showed many “businesses want to see some form of unification and change from the current model of nine councils”. The foggy description hides the real attitude their survey probably showed but it also hid the fact that many of those businesses were fed up to the eyeballs with the Chamber and wanted out. The Chamber can’t seem to add two and two together to get the truth about their business – they suck at it.

    • Auckland now 2 x more inefficient
      • Amalgamation of Auckland was meant to save money and make delivery of services more efficient. New numbers are proving it is twice as inefficient as previously. The original seven Councils had about 6,700 staff. It was projected to need only 4500 or so. But instead, the merged Council has over 11,000 staff. Worse still, almost 2000 of them over $100,000 per annum. Wait, there’s more – they’re doing LESS work! Whaleoil (yes, we know, but to be fair, we need to list the source) cites the example of councils processing 12,000 house consents in 2003, while this year they’re only processing 8,000. All the simple-minded supporters of amalgamation spout the deeply considered theory of “bigger is better”. Like all shallow economic theories, this fails to consider the one core factor: people. Yes, it should be more efficient. But this fails to factor that a bigger organisation leads to bigger egos. It leads to people asking for more money to help run bigger organisations. It leads to people treating jobs as a means to their own selfish ends, not a community service. It leads to people ‘hiding’ inefficiency within bureaucracy. Amalgamation proponents, including this Government, are at best fools, and at worst, people who hope to benefit from this at the expense of ordinary hard-done-by citizens.

    • Rotorua amalgamation opposed
      • More evidence is emerging that communities around the country are not interested in amalgamation of local authorities. Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick says a poll showing 91% of the public want to vote for their own mayor and Councillors means amalgamation of the Rotorua Lakes Council with other regional authorities is off the table. Nearly 80 per cent of respondents said it was important to elect their own mayor and council because they look after the needs of Rotorua and would be based in the region and be accessible to the people. “I find [these results] very affirming. They’re more affirming than I imagined. We always work on a 80-20 rule but this is bigger than that, 91.4 per cent, they want to elect their mayor and council, that matters to them,” Mrs Chadwick said. She said “We have learnt that bigger isn’t better but we have to find out what is better. It’s off the table for us, that’s a strong remark, 91 per cent [have said], it’s off the table.”

    • Govt response to vote: screw you
      • The message from the Government following the Hawkes Bay vote against amalgamation has been that the views of the public don’t matter. Minister Paula Bennett has given two messages; that the poll was irrelevant because amalgamation was never intended (so why did you force people into a vote then?), and that regardless of the vote, she’s pushing on with what she really wants (which is, er, an amalgamation of services). The new head of the Local Government Commission, Wira “Lord Mayor” Gardiner, says no matter what the vote, he would have amalgamated the region. Which shows the way the elite think: the vote was a darned nuisance to their glorious ambition. since they know better than us ordinary folk, they’ll push on with their plans anyway. Bennett has signaled that she’s prepared to introduce new laws to get some form of amalgamation. Hands off the Hutt is now even more determined to ensure these people don’t just sneak in amalgamation by the back door.

    • Amalgamation backers should apologise
      • The fools who started and ran the Hawke’s Bay amalgamation campaign, putting everyone to so much trouble over something they never asked for, should apologise. There was NO mass movement in the Hawke’s Bay, and there wasn’t in the Wellington region, for amalgamation. Yet these people invited and encouraged the devil – the Local Government Commission – to propose amalgamation of the region. Once the work started, there was still no mass movement. The issue got aired at public meetings, local media, and through various paid advertising. Yet, very few people responded. The main pro-amalgamation actors were: Lawrence Yule, Mayor of Hastings. Championed the idea everywhere. Concedes it is a major defeat but self-justifies. He couldn’t even win the vote in his own Council. You have to wonder how well he understands his own citizens. Craig Foss, MP for Tukituki. A late-comer to the debate, which illustrates the weakness of his political radar, and perhaps susceptibility to doing what he is told by superiors. Wrote long-winded asinine article in the local paper. Acknowledges now that “the community has spoken” which is really beside the point, since they were speaking loudly before the election, and before this mess started, weren’t speaking about amalgamation at all. Rebecca Turner, chairman of A Better Hawke’s Bay, led the local charge single-handedly. Says she was “surprised” by the result, which suggests she was talking too loudly to listen. She has blamed the public for believing “fear and scaremongering”. Yes, you’re right: not a single apology among them for causing consternation, expense and heartache for their fellow citizens.

    • Hawkes Bay kills amalgamation
      • They did not ask for it, and they don’t want it: the public of Hawke’s Bay has voted 66% against amalgamation. The immediate conclusion is that amalgamation across the country is dead. Everything has been stacked in favour of amalgamation since the National Government thought to force it on the public. It wrote a law that meant one crazed citizen could invite the Local Government Commission to investigate amalgamating a region, but it would require a petition and then referendum of hundreds of thousands of people to stop it. It wrote a law that meant the Local Government Commission said it was obliged to seek amalgamation, rather than any other option for efficient and effective service. The Local Government Commission was stacked with, and still is, people who clearly prefer amalgamation. The elite set up a network of mates to advocate for amalgamation, taking out expensive adverts in newspapers, billboards and pamphlets. And yet, 80% of the Wellington region was set to vote against amalgamation before the proposal was dropped. And yet, 66% of Hawke’s Bay said no. And consider this; 40% of the Hawke’s Bay public were so unmotivated by the idea that they didn’t vote – making a mockery of claims that amalgamation was answering a deep problem experienced by citizens. Yes, amalgamation has been decisively crushed despite every chance the Government gave it. Almost no one will be stupid enough, apart from the Commission, to raise the idea in any other region in New Zealand.

    • Auckland playing field victim of amalgamation
      • More proof has emerged about how amalgamated councils lose touch with the community. The latest is the coach of a children’s football team on Auckland’s North Shore who mowed the long grass on a field and filled in mud holes, because the Council wouldn’t do it. The Council has decided not to prosecute the coach under rules that forbid the public to cut grass on sports fields due to the ubiquitous, inspiration-sapping, scourge of modernity, “health and safety reasons”. The thing about local Councils is their staff know and use assets like fields and parks as local residents. This makes them more responsible, responsive, and likely to help. Amalgamated Councils, remotely delivering services, don’t do better, they do worse – at a higher cost.

    • Auckland amalgamation increases salaries
      • Nearly 2000 Auckland council employees have a six-figure annual income according to figures released by Councillor Cameron Brewer. Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance, Jo Holmes, says the recent rates hike is to pay for out of control spending on “bloated council salaries”. “We were promised efficiencies from amalgamation and they don’t seem to have prepared. Instead what we’ve seen is empire building by council staff and demand, and the philosophy of spend, spend, spend.” Yet again we’re reminded how the Hutt dodged a bullet when the amalgamation threat was abandoned thanks to our lobbying. The irony is that Hawkes Bay is being enticed into amalgamation by people (“Better Hawkes Bay) who claim it will reduce the council salary bill!

    • Bennett’s ginormous lie
      • Paula Bennett has turned down the opportunity to back up her words that she wouldn’t force communities to amalgamate. A Bill was in front of Parliament this week that would return legislation to how it used to be, when a majority of people in each affected council area would need to agree to amalgamation. Effectively, that meant communities could opt out of amalgamation. Paula Bennett claimed recently at a speech to Local Government New Zealand that wholesale mergers were not the objective, and would only arise where the communities wanted it. She had a chance to prove her sincerity by voting for the Bill. She, and her Government didn’t. Perhaps the most disappointing vote against the Bill, on the basis of principle, was from ACT’s David Seymour. The liberty-loving party voted against our freedoms. Paula Bennett gave us no reason to think she’s any more likely to listen to communities than she was last year, when she ignored our pleas to save us from the madmen at the Local Government Commission.

    • Awesome slam of uppity pollies
      • The high and mighty supporting amalgamation got slammed as hypocrites yesterday by Hastings district Councillor Simon Nixon. Nixon rightly pointed out that the elitists saying amalgamation provides more ‘voice’ with central government, were actually already in positions to talk to central government, but had not. The roll-call of pro-amalgamation people who had not used their position to help Hawkes Bay was stunning (see below). It was like that in the Wellington region – all the supporters of amalgamation for a “greater voice” in central government were largely already holding permanent positions on the cocktail circuit. Why were these people not already able to represent Wellington’s interests? It is more likely that the reason these people seek amalgamation is to serve own ambitions of power and elitist glory. Here’s the Hawkes Bay list: the Mayor of Hastings Lawrence Yule, and Deputy Mayor Cynthia Bowers had spent 15 years in charge of the place Yule has been president of Local Govt NZ for eight year, which means he hangs out in Wellington and Parliament regularly. MPs Craig Foss and Chris Tremain are two enthusiastic amalgamation supporters. Former Tukituki MP Rick Barker, was also in cabinet in the Clark/Cullen Labour Government. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Michael Cullen also lived in Hawkes Bay. Former regional councillor Ewan McGregor, the husband of Hastings Deputy Mayor Cynthia Bowers, and John Harrison, a very successful businessman, are supporters of amalgamation.

    • Researchers: Auckland supercity same as Hawkes Bay
      • Refuting the protestations of Hawkes Bay amalgamites, a seminar of researchers has declared that the amalgamation proposal for that region is very similar to the Auckland model. The experts say the model “was designed specifically for the unique problems facing Auckland. It may or may not be suitable for other regions.” We can’t ignore the fact that the researchers concluded that on balance amalgamation had been good for Auckland, although the press release gives no facts to back that up. It’s hard to see how an increase in costs, and an increase in rates is an improvement. They certainly don’t compare the grand promises for the amalgamation with the dull results. But that’s the ivory tower of well paid researchers for you…

    • Best international cities are not amalgamated
      • A new report shows that the world’s best performing international cities have nothing to do with amalgamation. Auckland, that place we were told would be saved by amalgamating into a supercity, is falling behind. A NZ Herald story says a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report found Auckland has stagnated compared with 30 other international cities since 2012. This means that the Auckland ranking for various categories of performance, has on average dropped by two to three positions. There’s two embarrassing factors here for proponents of amalgamation and supercities. 1) Auckland has performed WORSE since it became a supercity. So all that stuff about growing the economy, improving lifestyle, and getting big region-wide stuff done like rail etc – that hasn’t happened. 2) Most of the most successful international city competitors are NOT amalgamated. Stockholm, the seventh best performing city, and best performing in political factors, has only 900,000 people. It is ruled by 14 councils, where two thirds of all the rates are spent. The top performing city is London, many times bigger than Auckland and yet divided into 33 borough councils. This is important and surprising stuff. Yet, central government, the local government commission, misguided zealots and VIP boot lickers on the cocktail circuit, willfully ignore the facts. There will be no apologies. There will be no reconsideration of ideology. It’s up to the the common sense of the public to hold off the political insanity.

    • Dominion Post was wrong in supercity debate
      • The Dominion Post has failed to explain why it campaigned for 2-3 years for a supercity, against the wishes of up to 80% of its readers. In a June editorial, the Dominion Post said Fran Wilde’s “political antennae deserted her”. But the DomPost’s public antennae had deserted it, in its zeal for a supercity. The DomPost would probably justify its bias on the basis of simply promoting an idea. But we think the Dominion Post went too far. We hear stories that it in the early days it willfully gave coverage to those promoting the concept and ignored those opposing the concept. It wasn’t until this year that the paper’s coverage reflected the shape of the debate. Rather than being revolutionary, the paper was being reactionary. It was standing against the public, against its readership. The paper was not part of the public uprising against an idea being promoted by the city’s elite. The only media which gave the issue, and both sides, a good airing was radio, and Tim Fookes and Newstalk ZB in particular. Community newspapers were mixed. The Hutt News was fair and interested. Most others were disinterested, and one was obstructive. So, we had to fight the city’s elite largely on our own, without the support of the region’s daily newspaper, and with low interest from most other media. The uprising was truly natural – via face to face, social media-driven, neighbour to neighbour sharing of information and opinions. If media want to learn from Fran’s mistake, and avoid her fate, they need to stop trying to create news, and instead listen to and reflect the will of their audience.

    • Same hype, same amalgamation
      • If the Hawkes Bay amalgamation proposal is different to the one dumped in Wellington, why are it’s promoters using the same reasons for supporting it? In the Wellington debate, supercity shysters claimed the future was at stake, because the proposal would bolster growth, provide jobs, and cut costs. They also claimed a supercity would cure rheumatic fever and poverty.  Oh, and they tried to claim that the amalgamation proposal was nothing like Auckland. Most of the same simplistic ideas are being used by the rose tinted morons in Hawkes Bay. The Hawkes Bay proponents of a regional view, don’t seem to get out much – or they might have seen how those simplistic ideas are rubbish. ‘Once in the generation’ chance to change? Give us a break. No one should be bullied into a decision for fear they might not get to decide later. ‘Grow the economy’. How exactly is that? What is it that a single Council would do to add to GDP, or jobs? Draw us a straight line between the same consent rules in each region to one extra job… we dare you. ‘Lower costs’. No single amalgamation anywhere at any time has ever saved more than it cost. Show us one that has. Show us one where the rates consequently went down because so much money was saved. You can’t. It never happened.

    • Politicians, a weird mob
      • When arch-amalgamation supporter, and conflicted President of Local Government, Lawrence Yule got married last week, the wedding sheet was headed with the words “Sweet Amalgamation”. It’s a strange thing, to link aspirations in your private life to goals in your public life. Politicians are a weird mob; they think it’s okay to connect private and public life when it suits them, but not when it doesn’t.

    • GWRC about to end?
      • Local Government Minister Paula Bennett has a new wheeze; to bring an end of regional councils. Fresh from her two-year failure to amalgamate regions, she told the Local Government NZ conference that she now expected the Local Government Commission to look at winding up regional councils. Services they provided would be undertaken by Council Controlled Organisation (CCOs). This is the model, give-or-take an acronym, that councils fighting off her lapdog LGC had suggested would be more efficient than forming supercities. Look, we’re great fans of tipping the snoozers at the GWRC out of bed, but we’ll do it ourselves thanks very much Ms Bennett. We console ourselves that Bennett would do the least damage by throttling GWRC and its brethren, but given the trail of the LGC’s incompetence,the LGC, we aren’t ordering an outfit for the wake.

    • Supercity facts and dream worlds
      • Hawke’s Bay amalgamite Rebecca Turner is fitting the mold of rose-tinted supercity advocates. She promotes her dream world where politicians and bureaucrats in an enlarged regional government don’t snipe and fight, where rates never rise, and where they listen to every member of the public and do what each of them wants, no matter how contradictory. She promotes a dream world in which a supercity, through some unexplained mechanism, attracts more investment, creates jobs, creates more money, doesn’t get in the way, but gets in the way just enough to build the right think big projects not the wrong think big projects, and everyone is happy. Have you ever seen government do that? Now this dreamer has the audacity to request the debate ‘stick to the facts’, Not surprisingly, the facts she wants people to stick to are her ones – the ones made up by the pro-amalgamation zealots at the Local Government Commission. But let’s be clear. These aren’t facts. These are paid-for economic assessments. That means guesses rife with assumptions, provisos and qualifications. They are theories and hopes. Here’s a real fact for you. Not a single report ever produced to support an amalgamation case anywhere in the world has ever… ever… proved correct. Every one of them has got its estimates wrong. Every amalgamated region has proved to be more expensive and less efficient than they were before. That’s a fact.

    • Yule be right, not
      • Lawrence Yule-be-right supported claims by Better Hawkes Bay that $1m would be saved in staff cuts following a merger. We showed yesterday why that simplistic and optimistic accounting is bollocks. But then Yule-be-right told Facebook followers almost the opposite; that there would be no staff changes in Hastings. The 350 were safe. So would all the Council staff cuts happen somewhere else Lawrence? Or will there be no staff cuts, and like every other merger anywhere, staff numbers and salaries will increase? We saw this sort of crappy, cringe-worthy political calculations and claims from Hutt amalgamation advocates – so what hope is there for a supercity utopia in Hawke’s Bay? None.

    • Supercity junk accounting
      • When we witnessed the enthusiasm of some Hawkes Bay amalgamites we thought they might know something we don’t about supercities. The first argument they mounted, this week, shows they know next to nothing. A Better Hawke’s Bay chairwoman Rebecca Turner resorted to junk accounting, claiming $1 million will be saved in salaries if the region’s councils were merged. Just like the rent-a-VIP, cookie-cut Better Wellington / Hutt / Northland crowds, these people imagine local governance dream worlds rather the reality. Bureaucrats running a council 5 times bigger, will seek salaries 5 times bigger. The proof is in Auckland. Last year the number of staff earning more than $100,000 leapt from 1500 to 1780, an increase of nearly 20%. In one single blow, that increase destroyed all the staff cost savings the Auckland supercity was projected to achieve (a projection based on exactly the same sort of simplistic shonky accounting  Turner used for Hawke’s Bay). What is it with Turner’s type that the sort of self-aggrandizement, narrow-minded, political-back-biting and salary taking they think disarms current regional politics, will magically disappear when you make it bigger. Turn it off Turner, in a supercity, the same problems will get super sized.

    • Why big arguments cost you more than small ones
      • Hutt City has announced one of the lower rate rises in the region; 2.7% for residents and a 0.6% reduction for businesses. In contrast, the Auckland Supercity rates are going up an average 10%. Looks like we dodged a bullet with amalgamation then. To be frank, we don’t understand how rates could be going up at all, with an annual CPI of only 0.1%. When you look at the Hutt Council’s long term plan, the new projects are fairly innocuous; cycle and pathways, viewing platforms, the Naenae bowls centre (okay, okay…), and Huia Learners Pool. It’s the sort of unadventurous stuff that keeps a city ticking over. Yes, there are debates about the cost and usefulness. But these debates are more comfortable, and ultimately less costly, than the sorts of debates that face supercities. Terrible things happened when people with grandiose ideas start wanting to spend our money. That’s what happens in amalgamated councils. Does anyone honestly think that Auckland supercity’s rate rise is a one-off, or that any of the think-big schemes will deliver what they promised? Give us debates over bowling clubs, learner pools and walkways any day.

    • Laidlaw must learn
      • Gee, some politicians won’t learn will they? The new GWRC Chairman Chris Laidlaw; reasonable at rugger, rubbish at politics, has ignored the resounding smashing voters gave his supercity proposal to say he wants to start work again on amalgamation. Laidback told media that he wanted a “meeting of the minds” on amalgamation. According to Laidback “A lot has been said about the issue in recent months but from my perspective I want to start again from a clean slate,” Yes Laidback, you voted for a supercity, but we said your idea was awful. You might want to wipe all that away, but you can’t, and we won’t. According to Laidback “The important thing is to find a consensus that will work for everybody in the region and that will reassure people that local identity and decision-making will remain local.” Here’s the thing about consensus; it’s usually what Laidback’s elite want it to be. That’s why we’re much happier with a majority decision thanks. Chris, over 80% of people you work for don’t want amalgamation. 40% of respondents to the LGC offered that they might like a little change, but that isn’t structural. It’s like joint transport or water management. Hands off the Hutt hereby officially starts the Lose Laidlaw campaign.

    • LGC: Out with the old, in with the old
      • The Government has confirmed that it has replaced Basil Boom Boom Morrison at the Commission with another long-time friend of the establishment, Wira Gardiner. Local Government Minister Paula Bennett joked in a press release that Gardiner and a new Commissioner Mr Leigh Auton “have the right knowledge and expertise to help communities focus on the issues that matter.” ‘Gravy’ Gardiner, as some call him, does NOT have local government experience. Auton does have experience as a council CEO, but Bennett fails to recall whether this experience was ‘successful’ (Manukau, so judge for yourself). What made us all laugh was that a Minister in a National Government was arguing that you could not trust the community to focus on issues that mattered to them – they needed life-long bureaucrats to do it for them. The mirth-making continued from Bennett; “We need local government to focus on delivering sustainable infrastructure, making sensible spending decisions, and listening to its citizens.” It was funny because Bennett forgot about the Auckland Council. You know, that supercity which couldn’t add a new wharf, spends money of floating penis art and which ignores the requests of the local citizen boards to the point that they write complaining letters. Bennett was on a roll, her third for the day; “For too long the argument has been on how many mayors we have, instead of looking at key infrastructure and economic growth.” It’s been the Government, the Commission, and the smart-set who argued that there’s too many elected officials. Only now Bennett admits that maybe “key infrastructure and economic growth” are more important measures. But Bennett and her press secretary have not been paying attention. The Wellington supercity proposal was lost because there was no evidence that either “key infrastructure” or “economic growth” was a problem, nor any evidence that different structures would improve them. Two years after being warned that the Commission was crazy, Bennett now says she’ll be asking the Commission to “to be creative and think seriously.” So what the heck does she believe they’ve been doing until now? Oh please… just close down that damn Commission, and leave us alone to work out our own local management – like a real National Government would.

    • GWRC doesn’t really want to know what you think of them
      • Like all organisations disconnected from their customers, GWRC has to survey the region’s residents on their opinions. GWRC recently surveyed the region by telephone, checking if we knew what they did. GWRC is so distant, so unsure of itself, so lacking in purpose, that it has to ask whether we – the people it serves – know what it does! The ten minute survey asked about 10-15 question to work out whether the participant knew what the GWRC did, with handy prompts to make sure you remembered. They ran through their services asking whether the participant was aware it was something they did. The asked in particular about parks, public transport, and the metlink website (which we find pretty good actually… so what… do they want a medal?). There was no room for rating different services, nor describing services the participant thought were not necessary Bizarrely, participants didn’t get to say how happy they were with any of the current services. They only got to rate the overall performance. So a self-serving survey from a self-serving organisation. Best be done with them.

    • The black list – GWRC councillors NOT to vote for
      • Councillors on the GWRC have scrambled to do in Fran following the debacle that was its failed effort to force amalgamation on the residents of the region. Voters would be justified in tossing each Councillor out at the next GWRC election. The reason is that they are collectively responsible. Just over two years ago, the GWRC kicked off the whole mucky business by sending a proposal to the Local Government Commission that the region amalgamate. The WHOLE GWRC is responsible for that – from councillors to staff. There’s a lot of talk about people being brow-beaten into support. “I was only following orders” is not acceptable. When bad things happen, it takes good people to stand up to it. No Councillors contested the plan in public. And we are not aware of any staff who did so in private. But the worst are those Councillors using this opportunity for political gain even though they actually liked the idea of amalgamating us against our will. Here are the Councillors you could vote back in the next election, because they voted against the GWRC amalgamation proposal going to the LGC. Paul Swain Daran Ponter Sandra Greig Garry McPhee (to be accurate, he only voted against it after the Council refused to amend to exclude the Wairarapa) Here are the Councillors we say you should NOT VOTE FOR, because they supported the amalgamation proposal. Making it worse, some have tried to cover the fact by blaming and ditching Fran. Take special note of Ken and Prue – Hutt residents, DON’T vote for them. Nigel Wilson Ken Laban (Hutt) Prue Lamason (Hutt) Jenny Brash Barbara Donaldson Judith Aitken Paul Bruce Sue Kedgley Chris Laidlaw Fran Wilde

    • Yule not be seeing me in all those familiar places
      • The question needs to be asked. Should Lawrence Yule remain President of Local Government NZ?  He spoke in favour of amalgamations such as that which threatened our beloved Hutt against our wishes. Last year members of his own organisation voted against amalgamations in principle. This year the Wellington proposal got stopped by the will of the people. The Northland proposal has been stopped, after being lost somewhere in the paperwork. It seems to us that if Hawkes Bay votes down amalgamation, Yule could not justify staying as President. And he won’t be the only high placed leader to feel the kickback from supporting amalgamation…

    • Here’s how well a supercity works
      • The Auckland supercity, shining showcase of think big people such as Craig Foss, Fran Wilde, Lawrence Yule, and, it has to be said, John Key, is in a mess. Councillors are so jumpy about the enormous rates hike they are to foist on residents who previous reveled in low rate heaven, they might not vote for it tomorrow. So it seems that when you make things bigger, the screw-ups get bigger. Look out Hawkes Bay!

    • Foss dissected
      • The amount of claptrap spoken in favour of amalgamation has not ceased with the end of the Wellington supercity proposal. At the heart of the problem are the nation’s decision-makers and influencers. People you may expect to use evidence, reason and logic in the service of the nation, instead use rhetoric, grand-eloquence and humbug. To the list of utter drivel spouted we now add Craig Foss, Minister of something and a Hawkes Bay MP. In a column in favour of amalgating that region he imagines what should happen the day after amalgamation. The new mayor should commit to be positive and aspirational for all of Hawke’s Bay. The mayor should pledge to celebrate, nurture and enhance the cultural identity and strengths of our various cities and towns. Currently, our cities and mayors compete with each other. Goodness. A pledge to ‘celebrate’ the region – what a cool idea. Why didn’t the previous and current Mayors think of that?  Apparently the current cities and mayor “compete”. First off, primarily they don’t: they get on with running their councils and serving the needs of their residents. Secondly, it’s a strange thing for a National MP to criticise competition. Isn’t competition the lifeblood of variation, difference, innovation. Wouldn’t a real National Party be wary of the idea of a behemoth faceless regional organisation with one flat set of ideas and dictates? The new mayor should set 10-year goals for our region. They must make those goals public, transparent, realistic and invite the public to hold the mayor and councillors accountable for them. The mayor should explain how they intend to achieve the goals and explain the steps required to achieve them. Now, there are five various long-term plans. The new mayor should immediately arrange a meeting with Prime Minister John Key to say Hawke’s Bay is now united and the new council is focused on job growth, economic growth, export growth, tourism growth and is environmentally responsible. The mayor should explain to Mr Key the Bay’s regional priorities and plan. Currently, the Prime Minister hears five different plans and five sets of priorities from five different mayors/chairs. The mayor should commit to a constant and innovative pursuit of the best value and outcomes for ratepayers’ investment. As well, the mayor should fast-track a regional infrastructure stock-take and begin a process of commitment to 10 years of various water storage/irrigation projects, 10 years of roading investments, 10 years of fibre, 10 years of tourism developments – and 10 years of certainty. You get the picture. At the moment there is no such investment certainty in the Bay. The commitment and publication of such plans will create a more certain and attractive environment for job creating businesses to expand/invest into the Bay. There are five sets of rules and therefore five sets of costs that job creators have to try and stay on top of. Central government will be receptive to the mayor’s new focused goals and proposals. Having one set of priorities for the Bay is so much more advantageous than the five often conflicting priorities that are presented to the Government at the moment. The five different sets of priorities compete or cancel each other out, meaning central government has difficulty engaging in region-wide initiatives. Businesses looking to invest here will be so much more receptive and interested when they see Hawke’s Bay as providing one region-wide plan for the next 10 years. Right now, there are five levels of uncertainty. The mayor should immediately begin a council rules and regulatory bonfire and publish a schedule indicating when the various parts of the various bylaws throughout the Bay will be upgraded into one set of rules, bylaws and regulations for all. The starting point for the new rules and bylaws should be trying to “create the best region in New Zealand for job growth balanced with looking after our environment”. At the moment, we have five sets of rules and bylaws that are different and not focused on how they can assist all of the Bay. The mayor should be brutally honest about the Bay’s negative social statistics and work with central government to build long-term solutions. Right now it is easier to fudge around the edges and hard for large government programmes to deliver when dealing with five councils. It is time for a united Hawke’s Bay to be heard, acknowledged, respected, envied by the rest of New Zealand. It’s your chance to make it happen. Your positive amalgamation choice will make it happen. A united, amalgamated Hawke’s Bay will provide an awesome opportunity to create the best region in New Zealand to operate a business, grow jobs, grow wages and salaries, grow opportunities for our children. Will this be easy? No, of course not. Will there be an instant change in your rates and ratepayer obligations? No, of course not. Will Hawke’s Bay have a better chance at success? Absolutely. After a positive amalgamation vote, with the right people leading the way and with your support, the Bay will be unstoppable.  

    • Business elite hold hands after defeat
      • Here’s an insight into those people who were trying to take over the Hutt and our rates, to use for their think big schemes. After Fran Wilde’s resignation, or ousting, from Chair of the GWRC, the Wellington Chamber of Commerce issued a press release celebrating her contribution to the region. The sycophantic love note from Chief Executive John Milford said Fran was great because “She was also a great supporter of changing the governance of the region, something the vast majority of businesses in the region are calling for.” He is of course not referring to actual businesses of the region, but only to Chambers of Commerce, who were all whipped into line on the subject. Actual businesses – the people who actually make and sell stuff – were ambivalent. A survey of them by the Hutt Chamber found that the majority did NOT want amalgamation. Remember, these Chamber leaders love the idea of regional amalgamation so much that they have refused to amalgamate themselves. Milfy doesn’t much care for evidence. For example, he repeats that “Our economy and regional development continues to lag behind others” and again choose not to cites any evidence. Here’s another great quote though from ol’ Milfy: “We just hope that politicking doesn’t continue to get in the way of achieving the right outcomes for the region.” Yes, that’s right. Milfy hopes none of that democratic voting stuff gets in the way of doing what Fran wants. You know, what he’s talking about – the ugly system where people and their representatives get to argue stuff out. All that is a pesky nuisance to visionaries like Fran and Milfy. Only, when you look at what they say, they’re not visionary at all – they’re pedestrian. With an empty page in front of him, Milfy could have sketched out this vision. Instead he advised; “councillors need to keep their eye on issues that will help move us forward.” And there you have it – no issues specifically mentioned, and no vision described, just some BS about going forward somewhere.  It’s a wonder he manages to walk forward at all.    

    • We trash the people who think they’re smarter than the public
      • Two years ago, a small group of smug people said amalgamation was a ‘foregone conclusion’.  This week we proved the power of the public. We proved that these self-appointed know-it-alls can’t just make their grandiose plans and consider the public a doormat. We are usually a charitable bunch – you shouldn’t kick people when they’re down. But these people were not charitable to the public. Their disdain for our opinions is still evident. Faced with humiliation of 90% public disapproval of their idea, these people still defy the power of democracy. Not one note of humility. Not one note of regret for putting the majority of their fellow citizens through the million-dollar waste… So yeah, we’re going to put the boot in…. Fran Wilde (who claimed that a supercity would solve rheumatic fever) – “I’m disappointed for Wellington, because the regional economy is not performing as it should.” Fran, it was proven to you that the regional economy is on most counts doing better than Auckland, and on the others, only marginally less. You were NEVER able to show how a supercity would make the economy perform better. You were NEVER able to explain why any other place, including Auckland, did WORSE after amalgamation. Nick Leggett – “We’ll still amble along, but we’re going to be a region of sluggish growth and we won’t be competing [with the rest of the country] the way we should be competing, and that should be of concern to all Wellingtonians.” Nick, we’re sorry you’ve not been able to fix Porirua, but we could not accept a plan that takes the rates of people in other suburbs to spend it in Porirua. Not only did you NEVER specify the regional improvement you sought, you could not explain how a supercity would make it better. Basil (Boom Boom) Morrison – “Different regions have different challenges and may require different responses to those challenges.” Basil, where was the “demonstrable support” you said existed for a supercity? There were countless warnings about public opposition, and smaller scale ideas were dismissed. Your ‘think big’ notions were anti-democratic.  Now you admit that different responses for regions may be needed? So why did you propose more or less the same model for Northland, Hawkes Bay and Wellington? Paula Bennett – “The role of the Local Government Commission is to listen to what communities want and work with them towards effective solutions. Today’s announcements show it is doing just that.” Paula, they are listening to communities only after two years – and it took yelling in their face to make them listen.  It is your government’s legislation which made this craziness possible – and your government’s belief in council amalgamation. Your government passed legislation which meant only one amalgamation zealot was needed to put the communities to this trouble. Last year you passed legislation which prevented meant no single council area could opt out of the commission’s proposals. We don’t want the Commission to work with us. It should be disbanded. John Milford – “Abandoning the proposed local government amalgamation model for Wellington is a missed opportunity for the region and the local economy.” Bless you John. It’s time to read some evidence on this issue. Tracy Johnson – “Our members believe that the current local government model must change to support improved local representation, ensure a greater commitment to developing regional infrastructure, and better quality leadership.” Tracy – what a collection of lovely phrases, and how vacuous. If amalgamation is such a great idea, why haven’t the region’s chamber’s merged? How is it improving local representation to REDUCE the number of representatives, and take ALL our rates to spend regionally? How does a supercity ensure better quality leadership? What the heck does that even mean? Do you mean a system that appoints more smart people like you? Is that what has happened in Auckland – is the quality of politicians better now? Is the quality of bureaucrats better? They sure cost more. Let’s tackle that regional infrastructure thing.  You see, along with Boom Boom Morrison, your proposed system starts with governance obsessed with infrastructure, with communities, streets and ratepayers as an afterthought. We don’t like that. Liz Koh – “We are concerned that, while some local bodies have spent hundreds of thousands of ratepayer dollars objecting to the proposals, the general public have been denied a public information programme that puts the arguments for and against the amalgamation proposals in an independent and impartial manner.” Liz, that’s patronising. You’re saying the reason the public didn’t support a supercity was that we hadn’t been sufficiently well educated to agree with you. Mile Cole – “At the moment, too many councils are pulling in different directions, leaving Wellington with a distinct lag in competitiveness among New Zealand cities.” Mile is late to the party, but brought a bowl of fatuous to share. So what are those different directions? Did you bother looking at the stats – check them out here. There’s no lag in competitiveness, and it’s far from clear what supercity bureaucrats would do, or stop doing, to make people competitive. Sheesh.

    • Hutt Valley relieved by amalgamation backdown
      • Media Release 10 June 2015 Hutt City residents are breathing a sigh of relief with news their city won’t be amalgamated but are furious at the time and money wasted, says the group formed to fight the supercity. Hands off the Hutt co-chairman Chris MacKay says that while he is pleased the city took down the bureaucrats, there is resentment that the Local Government Commission took its idea so far. “They’ve wasted thousands of hours of good folks’ time – hours we should have spent building our communities rather than saving them from wacky ideas. “The Commission ignored numerous surveys, submissions and public discussion. It wasn’t until the Commissioners met the public in the flesh at hearings that they realised what they were up against. “We are glad that common sense prevailed and they finally listened to the will of the people.” Co-chairman Michael Ellis says there is now no prospect of any change at all. “The resounding ‘no’ from Hutt residents, and almost 90% of the region, is impossible for the Local Government Commission to ignore. Despite the Commission’s claim it will work with councils on alternative changes, the announcement was the end of any shifting of power to a regional organisation. “This is a victory won by all those in the Hutt who saw that a super city made no ​​sense and made sure their voices were heard.” Mr Ellis says the whole process had been a distraction for the region, when the inevitable conclusion was to retain the status quo. ​“Proponents of the Super City have spent over a million dollars of ratepayer money only find out what they could have found out by just listening to their residents – no change was needed or wanted.”​ ENDS Contact: Chris MacKay: 04 570 2233          Michael Ellis: 029 222 0829

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