Letters to the editor

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19 Sept, 2022

 

Three Waters a way forward?
We are informed (Focus, 5 Sep) that our water infrastructure comprises “$300 mill of assets”. Yet these are not assets in the usual sense. Most assets can be administered for profit or sold. And only when sold is the actual value determined. (Surely nobody wants our water services to be privatised.)

In reality, providing water services is a huge burden. Each council has the responsibility of ensuring safe drinking water, sourcing new supplies, disposing of foul water and storm water safely, maintaining infrastructure and so on. This requires monitoring, maintenance, upgrading and development.

Councils are rates-rise averse which puts savings in conflict with service. With years of underfunding, chickens are now coming home to roost up and down the country – water shortages, old pipes bursting, waterborne disease, sewage spills, polluted lakes and rivers, floods etc.

Mangawhai is an interesting case. Initially the EcoCare project was hailed as a model for small towns. Then its capacity was secretly increased threefold and dumped upon a ratepayer base that was much too small. And after only a few years the scheme is too small and its technology out of date.

The delivery of water services by a plethora of local councils has failed – not least because councils are very sensitive to rates rises and have many other priorities. Small councils often lack appropriate professional input.

Three Waters appears to offer a way forward. The authorities created will have water services as their primary focus. They will be large enough to provide economies of scale and pools of expertise. Costs can be spread and benefits shared. (Spoiler alert: Rectifying decades of underinvestment will cost.)

Thorough and mature discussion is required. Pie-in-the-sky some may say. But I prefer that to slogans and knee-jerk parochialism.

Jim Colvine
Mangawhai Heads

 

 

Council role in community projects
I consider Gordon Hosking's letter published in your 5 September edition (Letters to the Editor, Councillor volunteer support vital) was addressed directly to me as a sitting – and standing – councillor. Having formed my own community-based landcare group (Otamatea HarbourCare), and having performed a stint on the Kauri Museum board, I

came on to the council with the perspective that the community benefits more when the council can support not-for-profit groups in the community. The alternatives are fewer services and facilities or higher rates. A further benefit of front-footing by the community is a greater sense of ownership: “By us, for us”. What I would love to hear more of, is people saying: “We did this ourselves; and by the way, thanks council for helping us to get started”.

I think of MAZ, where I like to bring the grandkids from time to time. The council has provided the land and substantial grants along the way (which could be acknowledged more) but it is through the time and energy of the likes of Colin Gallagher and his team which has made it into the remarkable facility it is today. Every dollar which they have dragged in from outside the district, every hour of volunteer time means that much less of a drain on the ratepayer. If you take out the word “MAZ” from this paragraph and insert “Trackies Trust” then the sentiment holds after replacing Colin's name with Gordon's.

Of course there are other local examples too. To put it a little differently, community groups can often get access to funds which councils can't. We have a small team of great staff across the district who support NFPs with facilitating plans and funding applications. For any readers who are involved in a community group you probably will have met one or more of them. I say, more please. It may be the only function we will retain as a council once the government has completed its programme of reforms.

As a result of being elected to council I became a trustee for Volunteering Northland. For those involved in community groups who haven't heard of it, I encourage you to check it out either online or give them a call on (09) 945 4984. It acts as a kind of introduction service between people who are interested in volunteering, and organisations wanting to recruit more volunteers. It also provides various courses such as in governance training and first aid. I’d be happy to meet with any group wanting to find out more. Just contact me on 021 0829 8037.

Mark Vincent
Otamatea Ward Councillor
Kaipara District Council

 

Claims harm reputation
It would take too many column inches to untangle the multiple incorrect and misleading statements by your correspondent Dr Maleki (Focus, 5 Sept, Letters to the Editor, Time to get involved in local elections) so I'll cut straight to the bit which I take personally.

If the good doctor considers I am corrupt (“Is this not corruption at the highest level?”) then he/she should lay an information with the police. These claims are harmful to my reputation as an individual and as an Elected Member of the Kaipara District Council. Dr Maleki has the right to freedom of expression, but needs to know that with it comes the

responsibility to support such expression with the facts. I am open to receiving an apology.

Mark Vincent
Otamatea Ward Councillor
Kaipara District Council

 

Devich Road frustration
I’m writing to totally support Dr Nima Maleki on his letter (Focus, 5 Sept, Letters to the Editor, Time to get involved in local elections) about Kaipara’s roads and why we need transparency from our council. I live at the top of Devich Road and understand his frustration with KDC as I’m in a similar position with dust and culverts.

The KDC should be using 20mm unwashed chip rather than the red rubbish they are using. KDC have acknowledged the washout at the end of my driveway has been caused by weeds etc blocking the drain upstream of my culvert which I have in an email, which also stated basically no money available. As I’m getting over three cracked vertebrae I will have pay for the metal and labour to fix the washout as my drive scrapes the bottom of low cars.

Kevin Healy
Mangawhai

 

Council must work as a group
Local elections have rolled around, the billboards dotting our streets, promising lower rates, better services (more for less?), less staff but more work (more for less?), effectively saying, we’ll gut the organisation, work those who care into the ground, and be surprised when they all leave after we’ve driven the last morsels of civic pride out of them.

Many council staff I've met are locals, passionate and caring about the Kaipara they live in, they pay rates too, and use the facilities, take their kids to playgrounds, build homes and use local business.

From these potential elected members there is a lot of talk about transparency. Opening up the council. How? Public agendas? Public minutes? Weekly stories in local papers? Drop-in days? Emails, phone calls, social media? That’s already happening. How about a publicly available document detailing all the finances proposed to be spent every year? Done. How about an annual report showing where every dollar proposed has actually gone? Done.

This is without even getting into these people twisting their use of ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom’. Or talking about ‘vanity projects’. Which ones? By my account Council got about $40m from Central Government funding over the last five years, and look at the results – wharves, sealed roads, shared paths, toilets, scientific development of possible land use change (Hello, new business opportunities?) All at minimum cost to ratepayers.

When you get a moment, have a think. Who do you really want making decisions around the table? People you can trust. People who can think longer than their re-election. Remember, a vote at the council table needs to be a majority. No one elected member can unilaterally decide something. You must work as a group. One person alone can’t ‘lower rates’, that needs to be a decision by a group. That group needs to be diverse, have perspective, have the time and space, and most importantly, care. Care about Kaipara and its future.

Sadie Robinson
Matakohe

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