Letters to the Editor

 

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Commissioners call
In response to John Robertson's letter of January 26, Time to end the Battle, I would like to say, Mr Robertson, that the ball is in your court.

So far, you have seen fit to allocate all of the debt from the EcoCare debacle to the ratepayers. When you have successfully held to account the parties responsible for the burgeoning of the debt to something in excess of $70 million and have reduced the exorbitant rates being charged accordingly, then my fellows on the MRRA executive will be willing to put a line under past grievances.

Recent publicity reveals that some 50 odd people in the Kaipara are calling for an extension of the Commissioners rule here. This is not surprising as there will always be some people who feel more secure under a dictatorship. However, there are many more who prefer democracy.

For every one person who signed in favour of retaining dictatorship in the Kaipara, there are more than five who petitioned the Associate Minister of Local Government asking her to return democracy and honour the Government's promise of a local election in the Kaipara in October this year.

Any deferral of the proposed hand back would indeed give credence to suspicions already being formed that there is a connection between the timing of the return to elected representatives and the planned reorganisation of the northern group of councils into a "super-council" in the not too distant future.

Barbara Pengelly
Secretary, MRRA


Water quality letter leaves poor taste
I stopped off at Wellsford for a quick break on Sunday the February 15 and picked up your paper for a read of it.

Once I got to the letters to the editor, I read carefully the letter from J Greene regarding water quality in the harbour. Any concern I had for the water quality, which needs urgent attention, was nearly overcome from reading this letter as it was written by a pompous, arrogant person and obviously in conjunction with someone with conflict toward a farmer.

Firstly the pompous attitude stating “I was approached by a friend” holds no concern for me; the arrogance part is stating “it was at my personal expense” also carries no weight nor concern to me.

You may well have just come out and put the farmers name in the paper for all to read with this obvious conflict.

Tell your friend if they have a genuine concern for water quality, and good on them for it, then there are avenues of process to follow. Did they approach the council, health board, MAF? If they had, this sheer arrogant letter could have saved the farmer some embarrassment.

Surely he, or she, has the right to be approached with any concerns before running to print and hanging them out.

The process is there and needs to be followed.

Darrell Hellier
Senior Agriculture Tutor
Tauranga


Why keep commissioners?
To the group that seeks to extend the term of the Commissioners I say “why?” They have done nothing but split the community, instigated a despicable Bill through Parliament and all this with an open cheque book the contents of which we are not allowed to see.

A letter signed by 50 ratepayers was delivered to the Associate Minister of Local Government signed by a former KDC deputy mayor. Fifty is laughable. That must mean thousands want rid of them. Ask yourselves how much they are costing us, the ratepayers, per day and I am sure you would change your mind.

Bring back democracy now. Let’s open the books and see where we are at. Mr Robertson says the books are better than when he arrived. If this is so, open them for all of us to see. I personally don’t believe him and if he stays on the condition will deteriorate by the day. It is no wonder that Te Kopuru and Maungaturoto’s ratepayers are jumping up and down. No district deserves what we have been lumbered with.

Bring back democracy now!

Ken Montgomery
Mangawhai


Endowment fund confusion
Your correspondent Peter Nicholas’ article re this very important (Mangawhai Endowment) fund is welcome, however it is incorrect in many of its statements.

a. In 1986 parliament passed the Mangawhai Endowment Fund Act to allow stewardship of the fund to pass to the Kaipara District Council. I have a copy of the act.

b. The valuation I have from council records for 2005 records the value of land and cash to be $5.4 million.

c. During the period 2007 to 2013 the Kaipara District Council internally borrowed the cash portion of the Mangawhai Endowment Fund when the KDC ran out of cash to pay for the sewage scheme.

d. The Mangawhai Endowment Fund cash should stand as a loan to the KDC however I have difficulty finding this in the KDC accounts.

GJ Smith
Kaipara

Peter Nicholas replies: Re point B – That might be the case, but the 2014 figures are accurate. Re point C – Not the case; the fund monies were never kept separate in the accounts or in cash even going back long before the sewer scheme. Re point D – See previous answer.

 

Prof Worzel feedback Hi Worzel. I am writing to you because I am concerned about the way our freedom is being cut. We live in Mangawhai (for 7 years) and love the outdoors. We as a family love to sleep outside and have been going to the free Te Arai campsite for years and years. Now they have closed the camp at Te Arai we were looking for an alternative beach to have our outdoor experience – in the wild not on a offical campsite with lights and stuff. The kids have been asking when are we sleeping under the stars. Yesterday (February 15) I took my two kids aged 3 and 8 down to Forestry Beach. We had a picnic on the beach in the evening and then lay on our mattress on the sand on the beach to star gaze. My daughter and son absolutely buzzed out and it was amazing. We fell asleep at around 9.30pm sleeping on the beach which is Crown land and at around 11pm a guy called Mike on a quad turned up with his torch and woke us up and told us to leave the beach. We are in danger he said because this is a tsunami zone, we were a fire hazard and we are not allowed to sleep on the beach because the forest wasn't insured. We lit no fires, we didn't pitch a tent and we didn't drink alcohol. In fact we actually picked up rubbish after all the day vistiors had left and put it in the bin. He made me pack up my sleeping children and we had to drive home. The kids woke up in the morning disappointed that we were not on the beach but back at home in their bedroom. I am very concerned we are losing the kiwi way and our kids, instead of appreciating and therefore respecting nature, will be growing up gazing at the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars on their bedroom ceiling. Is this that we want for our future? Thank you for taking the time to read my email. I love your articles in the Focus – keep it up – and good on you for your candidacy. We need you – you have my vote! Mana Williams Mangawhai