Decision
made? - Northern Advocate - 3rd
April 2012
Has the ink dried?
What a great weekend for the
Brother International Rally of Whangarei.
Friday night’s ceremonial start in Cameron Street Mall is always a great
opportunity to see the cars and drivers up close, before the gruelling event
covering over 280 kilometres of Northland roads can take its toll. The crews
work hard to keep the cars mobile throughout the event and also have them
sparkling for the finish at our lovely Town Basin.
So tomorrow its back to reality
again, which brings me to something that was quoted at Sunday’s Ceremonial
Finish at Quayside.
We have before us people, a
democratic process that our local councils are undertaking this next month.
Is that a true and correct description
of the 2012 - 2022 Draft Long Term Plan, that Whangarei
District Council has invited us all to participate in; a submission
process? Sadly I have to say in my
opinion, No.
Whangarei Mayor, Morris
Cutforth during his closing address on Sunday at the rally stated “within the
next two years we will have a Hundertwasser Building
here”, pointing to the old Regional Council building that WDC has had empty for
many years, failing to gain a return on the investment. Really,
who is pulling this ‘Puppet’s’ strings?
The draft summary will have
reached you all in the mail in the last week, but don’t be fooled; especially
after hearing an insulting comment to ratepayers, like that. I, like many others have tried hard to
believe that the future of the proposal was before us during the submission
process, but it seems again that the ink has already dried on their draft copy.
Is the process
flawed or do some people in the halls of power have their own ideas already cast
in concrete, not really caring what the ratepayers who will be paying the bills,
think?
Do we waste our precious time in
making submissions?
I will let you decide.
Warren
Slater
Maunu
(items abridged by
Northern Advocate in italics, for their
published copy)