VANDALISM is a problem many towns face and there is disappointment at the cost of it from some readers. FILE PHOTO
TUI TIME IS anyone else getting stonewalled by the move to everything digital? Visiting my local bank (name rhymes with backpac) which is in Te Kūiti is now merely a foyer in the wall – no staff or actual bank anymore, only to find the helpful ATM machine with a cheerful ‘out of order’ sign. Still now that the ‘Gummint’ owns Kiwibank in toto, perhaps those in charge there will reintroduce cheques? If they do, they can expect a flood of customers joining up. The writer wrote to the Commerce Commission regarding ‘cartel’ moves by all the banks within a month of each other withdrawing cheques nationwide. Comcom ‘Clair’ responded that despite ALL the banks seemingly acting in unison, “there was insufficient evidence available” to take a cartel prosecution. Yeah right. A Baker Te Kūiti
VANDALS COSTING RATEPAYERS IT was so disappointing to drive through town on the way to work on Saturday morning to find almost all the street signs on Anzac St, Park St, Ngarongo St, William St, Lawrence St and some of Te Kūiti Rd had been deliberately knocked over during the night. Do the people who did this not realise that those signs are erected for the safety of all road users and it is us ratepayers who will foot the bill for the replacement of those signs – many of which have been broken? It is obvious that a vehicle has been used, in some if not all cases, as the skid marks are still easily seen. I am sure the council and Inframax staff have better things to do rather than replacing street signs. The continued lawlessness which is happening in our town is as a consequence of the limited hours our local police station is manned. It is quite evident that as soon as evening falls the noisy cars and trail bikes come out with the bikes being ridden on the streets without any warrant of fitness, registration and the rider without a helmet or any safety gear. I had a near miss the other evening when a trail bike being ridden along the riverbank came up onto the street with its wheels off the ground, landed on street in front of me, drove across the street and continued along the river bank. It is such a shame there are so many people trying so hard to make our town a great place to live in whilst a small minority spends their time destroying things. All of the grassed areas around town are an example of this with people driving vehicles on them and deliberately leaving great gouges in the surface after our mowing contractors have mown these grass areas leaving them looking so good. It is so disappointing that the council are now talking of improving the bollards around Centennial Park to prevent this vandalism, when I am sure most would want the money spent somewhere other than preventing wanton damage. J Gibb Te Kūiti
DISAGREE I WISH to correct advice to your readers in the report on the Te Kūiti urban ward and mayoral candidate meeting. Your paper reported that I was a “long-term friend” of the chair of the meeting. This is not correct. Your paper reported that I “claimed credit for the previous council’s 10-year plan for lowering debt and bringing down debt.” This is not true. On the contrary, I was a fierce critic of the 2018 10-year plan of the previous council. I promoted a replacement budget after my election in 2019 to cut rate increases to zero for two years and cut expenditure on certain items, like ratepayers’ money being paid to promote the Timber Trail. These initiatives were rejected by councillors. There were some changes that I sought that have now been adopted – including putting an end to the previous council’s practice of budgeting for dividends from Inframax when the company could not pay them, and the over-rating for depreciation on our roads. The council has moved on. A new 2021 10-year plan has replaced the 2018 one. John Robertson Waitomo mayor
Andy Campbell’s reply: At the candidates meeting John said: “I made the promise to try to deliver nil rate increases for the first two years.” He said he promised to bring down debt, and said the council brought debt under $40 million for the first time in over a decade. However, the debt reduction was already forecast in the 2018 Long Term Plan. To be fair the 2018 plan forecast for 2022 was a debt of $46.25m and the 2021 figure was $39.55 million. But the curve has been jiggled to enable this. From 2026, the debt forecast is higher in the current plan than it was for the 2018 plan. In 2028 the variance is $23.997 million compared with $26.9m for the current plan. Over the term of the 2018-2028 LTP, public debt was already reducing from a high of $46.8 million in 2018 to $24 million by the end of 2028. This was a decrease of $22.8 million or nearly half (49%) over the 10-year period.
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