Mangawhai residents furious at council expenditure

17/05/2012 10:14:43 a.m.

dave wrote:

Its way past the time when councils were dragged back to basic stuff. All too easy to just up the rates, get a loan, and waste money. Most of all, its time they become accountable. I also want to see an end to national politics having anything to do with local politics. Every person voted in should be there on their individual merits.

14/05/2012 10:19:26 a.m.

Rob wrote:

This autocratic and arrogant mindset is preavalent in far too many districts in NZ but this example is one of the worst I have encountered. If the residents had been properly consulted in the first place with viable options, this would not have happened, as the unanimous answer would be NO!! even at the original budget for the unwanted wastewater scheme at $16 million, residents would have gladly have spent the money on inspecting their own septic systems, identified those that required attention or renewal. Job Done. They collectively respect their own environment. What do they get ?? a bunch of incompetent fools "miscalculating" the budget to $85 million. How on earth can locals be expected to bail them out of what amounts to sheer stupidity. They made the bed - they lie in it.! This simply has to be seriously examined as to sensible options. If residents withhold their rates, what are they council going to cut off ? They dont have a water supply, kerbing and channelling is abysmal, facilities are modest ... go ahead council - cut their rubbish collection off. Thats all they recieve for their $4000

13/05/2012 5:14:42 p.m.

TG wrote:

Its crazy to think that in a democratic society we are forced to pay the cost of others stupid decision's, the ramification of this councils decision to over spend and expect the taxpayer to "foot the bill" is outrageous and set's a sad precident for all councils that they can spend what they like and we the tax payers will pay.

I am willing to bet that all staff on the KDC have accepted their pay increase's over the last few years in spite of their obvious deficiency in making inteligent commercial and financial decisions.

If I over spend, is it my neigbours responsibility to pay my debt, I dont think so! In what world is spending more than you earn and can pay back a good idea.

Its time these elected officials were made to pay, get them out of office nation wide!!!! what ever it takes to make them realise they made the decision, they personally are responsible!

My thoughts are with the residents and business owners and I hope they are looking at the legal avenues available to them

12/05/2012 6:33:11 p.m.

Dave mcgillivray wrote:

Most mangawai empty section rates are going from $900 to $4000 +. Most houses in the same area are having their rates doubled. The 31 % quoted is bullshit. There will be a rate revolt with most people withholding their rates. The 2000 + people on todays march are manawhai residents from a total of 1400 properties. Puts it a bit better in perspective??

12/05/2012 5:01:21 p.m.

Angelina wrote:

Mary WTF??? The council went against people's wishes and installed a sewerage scheme that ballooned from 20 million to over 80 million dollars and mis-managed funds. There aren't a hell of a lot of new residents. There's a glut of houses and sections for sale here. Please research this issue. And anyway, even IF there was a lot of new development (which there is not) how on earth can you justify the huge increase? An old man I spoke to today, his rates on a small section in the village, no seaview, his government valuation has gone DOWN and his rates have gone from $2,000 to over $8000. YES that's right. $8,000. $160 odd a week. Would YOU pay that if your local Council stuffed up big time?

12/05/2012 3:55:40 p.m.

Mary wrote:

I know there is a lot of new development going on there, maybe it is roading, parks, public toilets and walkways and facilities etc I guess it's expensive setting up new facilities to cater for the many new residents-the developers should be passing the costs on in the new homes and land they sell, not to the existing residents.

12/05/2012 10:24:39 a.m.

jh wrote:

If you dig deeper you will find that ratepayers are subsidising developers. http://joelcayford.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/mangawhai-bankrupts-kdc.html

12/05/2012 6:49:14 a.m.

Angelina wrote:

Drakula, we have increases of 400%. Some people are going from $2,000 a year to well over $5,000. Others to over $8,000. Selwyn has 40,000 residents. We have under 2,000.

11/05/2012 8:58:50 p.m.

Drakula wrote:

As a resident of a small village of Lake Coleridge I would say in all confidence that we are not far behind Mangawhai. The Selwyn District Council is charging us the average $1,700 to $2,000 per household per annum; out of 40 dwellings there are now eight houses on the market and more residents will be selling up.The SDC never listens to our concerns nor do they act upon them. They are currently running at $90 million in debt, the face having to fix up earthquake infrastructure; so what do they do? They still go ahead and build a luxury $14 million swimming complex and loan $5 million to Central Plains Water (a private cum quasi public concern)for legal fees like the Resource Management consents etc. In summer out rivers are now polluted with orange algae while expanding dairy industries like the Fonterra coal powered drying factory that will cause havoc in Darfield, gets the green light every time. All this burden is put on the backs of Selwyns 40,000 residents. I feel (like the majority) that it's high time that the SDC is taken to tack and forced to be accountable to the rate payers!

11/05/2012 7:58:11 p.m.

Steve Brabant wrote:

Here is a copy of the minutes from the last council meeting on 2nd May where the council elected to fly the Mayor & deputy mayor to Queenstown in July for a conference.This just after they confirm a debt of $85 million dollars. They just don't get it. They need to be replaced now and stop spending ratepayers money on junkets. It is almost beyond belief. Both the mayor and deputy need to be fired. Simple. 6.2 Local Government New Zealand Conference 2012 : Queenstown 15-17 July 2012 ‘A celebration of all that’s remarkable in the local government sector’ Corporate Services Manager 2113.02 Registrations were now open for the Conference, to be held in Queenstown. The theme of the Conference was the celebration of all that?s remarkable in the local government sector. The Local Government New Zealand Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday afternoon. Guest speakers over the Monday and Tuesday include Sir Graham Henry, Fran O?Sullivan, Hon. John Brumby, Phil O?Reilly, Andrew Hamilton and Sir Eion Edgar. Workshops on the Monday include: Consolidation, Natural Hazards and Risk, Water Infrastructure, Local Government?s Rolein Growing the Economy, Alcohol Reform Bill Part 1, Water: a Strategic Issue, Resiliency and Infrastructure and Research Outcomes from NZ Core Cities Project. Workshops on the Tuesday include: Maori Role in Local Government Decision-Making, Earthquake Prone Buildings, Transport, Local Government?s Role in Growing the Economy, Alcohol Reform Bill Part 2, Environment - Current Issues and, Delivering Safer Journeys. The cost of registration was $1,385 before 14 May 2012 and $1,485 after that date. Accommodation and flights were an extra cost. Moved McEwing/ Blackwell That Council nominates Mayor Tiller and Deputy Mayor J Geange to attend the Local Government New Zealand Conference (Sunday 15 July to Tuesday 17 July 2012) to be held in Queenstown. Carried Reason for the decision To ensure that the Kaipara District is represented at this important Forum.