Councillor comments

Happy new year to you all

The beginning of a new decade, a new council a new Mayor and a lot of new challenges ahead of us, water being only one of the many. It’s going to be full on for the next few years. Councillors and the Mayor have been busy settling into their new roles, with induction courses on what is expected of us as councillors under the Local Government Act. Though very time consuming they are necessary not only for our own development but to help us to be more effective councillors. 

We are now into our second year of the new committee structure. These committee meeting are open to the public and it is disappointing that we don’t have more ratepayers attending; after all it was adopted so the ratepayer could be more informed on the many issues that we face. 

Needless to say they are working as intended, with a bit more fine tuning we will be onto a better way of governance. As the outgoing chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk committee I’m pleased that the new committee has acted on my suggestion to appoint an independent member onto this committee. Once again this gives you the ratepayer confidence that all is as it should be. … Continue Reading

FIRE BRIGADE REPORT 

This month already the Brigade has responded to a call every second day on average. The PROHIBITED Fire season is in place affecting both Rural and Urban properties (visit : www.checkitsalright.nz before lighting any outdoor fire) most fire are NOT Allowed.

THE FIRE RISK IS : VERY HIGH  … Continue Reading

First railway, first fatality

The opening of the first intercity railway between Liverpool and Manchester in 1830 also recorded the first railway death. The former President of the Board of Trade William Huskisson was carelessly standing on the tracks chatting to the Duke of Wellington when Stephenson’s Rocket came hurtling along turning the world’s first trainspotter into the world’s first railway casualty.

Despite this slight PR setback railway mania soon gripped the country and by 1843 there were two thousand miles of track linking industrial centres. 

Fishing monopolies 

An investigation by Greenpeace last year revealed that 29% of the UK’s fishing quota is owned by five families, all of whom feature on the Sunday Times Rich List. A single Dutch multinational, operating a vast fishing ship, holds a further 24% of the English quota. The smallest boats – less than 10 metres long – comprise 79% of the fleet, but are entitled to catch just 2% of the fish.

The same applies worldwide: huge ships from rich nations mop up the fish surrounding poor nations, depriving hundreds of millions of their major source of protein, while wiping out sharks, tuna, turtles, albatrosses, dolphins and much of the rest of the life of the seas. … Continue Reading