Councils Holding the Country to Ransom

[artemis]

.....
Social housing ..Most Councils including ours sold our pensioner flats. The reason? Govt made subsidies available for approved social housing providers only .. i.e Not Councils. I don't know of any example where Councils engage in social housing other than legacy pensioner flats?

What DBTH said. 10 years ago the Wellington CC set out a 20 year plan to spend some $400 million on social housing, half gifted by central goverrnment.

All spent 10 years in and they are now selling some social housing to provide more funding for the plan.

There is a new 10 year plan now, with some $30 million is to be spent on social housing.

Rent is set at 70% of market rent, but rises based on income.

There were complaints from some tenants recently who were required to produce bank statements to support the income info provided. Complaints were made direct to the council and also to Grant Robertson who is the local electorate MP. Some of the latter were in tears, though no reason for the tears was given.

The Council clearly did not believe they were given all relevant income information.

[Perry]

That latest one is .. Government (Health dept) tell us ..."After Havelock North you guys need/must/better put chorine in your community water supplies or else!!

When we go to the Community they say .. " You put bloody chlorine in our beautiful sweet tasting water and we will vote you out of office toot sweet".

The Government could just legislate that Councils must put chlorine in the water but will they .. hell no .. That would mean the communities would turn on them! Better a few Councillors bite that dust than any of their marginal seats get threatened!!

Sigh.....

You have my sympathy, Russell. It's just as well you have the fortitude that you do.

As I see it, the sort of things you describe - akin to jobs-for-the-boys appointment perks like the lotteries commission, etc. - are a form of soft corruption in NZ. No back-handers in the usual sense, but taxpayer money slides into certain pockets, nonetheless.

DBH Boards seem - at times - to be just figureheads to get beaten up as a consequence of a variety of decisions coming out of Wellie. A thankless and impossible task is theirs.

[Perry]

Interesting items about apartments and car parks and parking and Auckland Councils plans for everyone's good and . . . .

85 apartments, 77 car parks, 333 people - not in my quiet cul-de-sac, say Auckland neighbours

33-unit Auckland apartment opens - but not a single car park

[Wayne]

The no car parks one - I think this is a bit ahead of its time.
They do this in San Francisco, and probably other places, but I don't think Auckland is really ready for this.

[flyernzl]

The big snag with cycling in NZ is . . . . weather.

People go on about the popularity of cycling to work and back home in Amsterdam and Stockholm, but the weather in large land masses (eg Europe) is far more stable than in our small narrow windswept islands. As we all know, you can experience a lovely sunny morning in Auckland, and then by mid-afternoon it's howling winds and pouring rain.

A cycle commuter need only experience that once or twice, and then its back to the car/bus/train thank you very much.

A bit akin to building flat-roof stucco houses here 'because they look nice and have them in Italy' and then finding that there is a very good reason why we used to have pitched roofs and substantial guttering after all.

[Davo36]

The no car parks one - I think this is a bit ahead of its time.
They do this in San Francisco, and probably other places, but I don't think Auckland is really ready for this.

Yes I agree with this.

[Davo36]

The big snag with cycling in NZ is . . . . weather.

People go on about the popularity of cycling to work and back home in Amsterdam and Stockholm, but the weather in large land masses (eg Europe) is far more stable than in our small narrow windswept islands. As we all know, you can experience a lovely sunny morning in Auckland, and then by mid-afternoon it's howling winds and pouring rain.

A cycle commuter need only experience that once or twice, and then its back to the car/bus/train thank you very much.

A bit akin to building flat-roof stucco houses here 'because they look nice and have them in Italy' and then finding that there is a very good reason why we used to have pitched roofs and substantial guttering after all.

The other thing in Auckland is the hills. Try riding up Queen St haha.

I like to ride sometimes, but I'm going to buy an eBike sometime, just too hilly where I live.

[Learning]

The no car parks one - I think this is a bit ahead of its time.

The days of privately owned cars are numbered. In 10 or 20 years there’ll be a fleet of robotic vehicles you call upon to take you were you need to go. No more car parks, speeding fines or boy racers.

[Wayne]

The days of privately owned cars are numbered. In 10 or 20 years there’ll be a fleet of robotic vehicles you call upon to take you were you need to go. No more car parks, speeding fines or boy racers.

I don't disagree - which is why I said ahead of its time.

[Bluecoat]

So the AK council decides to have a say on the the well kept berms in our street.

How do they do that ?

Use roundup and spray the hell out of it. not just the edges but half the berm. Neighbours are all pissed off. Councils , what will we do without them.

[bmt]

Its interesting that some people seem to think their opinions apply to everyone.

Having lived in Auckland for 9 years I think I can comfortably say the "four seasons in one day" claim is well overblown. Sunny morning then howling winds and pouring rain in the afternoon? Pull the other one.. might happen once or twice a year, probably no more than any other city.

The hills in Auckland, try riding up Queen St haha! Woe is me! Not everybody works in Britomart and lives beyond Upper Queen St!

The thing that a lot of people are blissfully ignorant of about these Daisy apartments is that every single person who bought one would have known there was no carparking as part of the development and very little on street parking on account of it being on a cul-de-sac with existing businesses. Nobody knows who the buyers are - is there any evidence a single one plans to own a car and park it on nearby streets? No! As has been mentioned, there is a bus stop 80m away. Again, people bought into this development knowing all this information.

[Perry]

If It Wasn't So Idiotic, It Could Almost Be Funny.

Rule-breaking 'Welcome to Turangi' sign causing strife for Taupo District Council
25 Mar 2018

A Turangi business owner is refusing to remove a roadside sign, saying he is trying to help tourists find their way. He is now facing a $750 fine. Taupo District Council, however, says the sign breaks an NZTA rule which prohibits advertising signs that look similar to official road signs.

Baker said he wasn't trying to break the law or the rules. "We're just trying to encourage tourism in Turangi," he said. "Tourists used to call in all the time, particularly cyclists, asking where the Tongariro River track was. "When you're coming into Turangi, there are no signs pointing them in right direction."

A $750 fine for infringing the abatement notice was then issued in early March. Baker said that he did not plan to pay the fine. "At some point you've got to say, 'we've had enough, get stuffed'."

[eri]

Proposals announced yesterday, alongside the regional fuel tax, would see the Development Contribution

- the amount a developer pays to help fund infrastructure such as roads and parks -

rise from an average of $21,000 per dwelling to $27,000

- a hike of almost 30 per cent

(but) In areas where a lot of infrastructure is needed

- Albany, for example -

the DC price could be closer to $33,800, the council says. That's 60 per cent more than now.

And a separate proposal could see developers on future greenfields sites paying as much as $70,000 per dwelling.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12043072

[Perry]

That's sure to make housing more affordable.

[eri]

the amazing thing is

council think the developers will absorb the extra cost

as council policies will drive down land prices

you'd think they all got their degrees from the

Bolivarian University of Venezuela

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boliva...y_of_Venezuela

The education programme at the UBV is generally in line with Hugo Chávez's democratic socialist vision of a Latin American "Bolivarian Revolution".
Opposition leader Julio Borges though, labels it a "thinly disguised propaganda factory that takes advantage of the country's most vulnerable citizens"



as scary as that graph is

the IMF think inflation there could hit 13,000% by the end of this year

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/imf-sees-venezuela-inflation-soaring-to-13-000-percent-in-2018