Councils Holding the Country to Ransom

[Wayne]

goff is on record as wanting to bring in an auckland visitor levy too

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11756325

Visitor levy - good idea. You pay a seperate levy for accommodation all over the world without really batting an eyelid.

[Perry]

Of course, all round the world - there are always inventive new levies and taxes. But nowhere to be found are inventive and new ways of reducing costs. Strange, that. Businesses are sometimes forced to do that. But with captive ratepayers and Draconian enforcement powers, where's the incentive for councils to economise?

[Courham]

Good old councils. Queenstown council looking at limiting short term rentals (eg bookabach and AirBnB) to 28 nights a year in the hope it will bring more rentals back into the market. If I had a bach down there I'd be keeping it empty so I can use it or having a max of a 4-6 month fixed term tenancy so I get to use it over summer and winter. Can't see this actually solving any issues, just more meddling in the market place by those who don't have a clue.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/343405/airbnb-concerned-about-queenstown-crackdown

It will be interesting to see how this one pans out.

Craig

[Perry]

Shame On You

Good old councils. Queenstown council looking at . . . more meddling in the market place by those who don't have a clue.

Tut, tut, Craig.

How can you be so derogatory about the worthy elected representatives of the populace?

[eri]

council clowns

can't keep their staff

can't understand their own requirements

can't meet their own deadlines

of course more + tougher regulations would have this effect

singing kamabaya jacinda

won't fix it either

Staff quitting and increasing complexity are some of the reasons building consents have hit "unacceptable" delays, Auckland Council said.
The council's regulatory services director Penny Pirrit and building consents general manager Ian McCormick said on Thursday that average processing times had jumped by four days in recent months.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/987...ouncil-apology

[PC]

Out right theft of property rights.
Will they be paying compensation for taking property use away from the owners?

[Perry]

I wonder how much the bro-rocracy plays in the delays?

The old adage might apply: don't tell me how busy you are: tell me what you've achieved.

[eri]

the losers at auckland council

looking like losing the americas cup event

either to tauranga

or italy

nice 1 brown, nice 1 goff

infrastructure development for the betterment of auckland seemingly beyond you

how much have we rate payers spent on ateed? trying to attract events to auckland?

yet when an auckland based team try to bring 1 of the biggest money spinners around to the city

you're out of your depth...and out of money

probably due to diverting northshore rates

to south auckland for pointless waterpark type excesses

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11942621

[Perry]

Enjoy it, you lot!

The bureaucratic, miasmic morass that is Auckland CC is well exposed by this reference to Tauranga:

"The [Tauranga] guys are very much the type of people who are used to dealing with problems and sorting things out. We look at it and think 'how would you ever do that' and they look at it and go 'let's fix it'.

The only thing that's akin to dealing with problems and fixing them within ACC is finding new and inventive ways of screwing Ratepayers and justifying exorbitant pay scales for those who succeed in doing so.

[Davo36]

Link for that quote Perry?

[Perry]

In Eri's post, just above mine.

[Wayne]

the losers at auckland council

looking like losing the americas cup event

either to tauranga

or italy

nice 1 brown, nice 1 goff

infrastructure development for the betterment of auckland seemingly beyond you

how much have we rate payers spent on ateed? trying to attract events to auckland?

yet when an auckland based team try to bring 1 of the biggest money spinners around to the city

you're out of your depth...and out of money

probably due to diverting northshore rates

to south auckland for pointless waterpark type excesses

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11942621

I suppose if the council decide to throw a few million to get it done people will complain about that too.
Already complaining about the options.
I think the council is a reflection of the people of Auckland - just can't get out of their own way.

[Wayne]

Eri - you blame the council but it is more than that.
To get the America's Cup to Auckland money will have to be spent.
If the council put money into this people will complain that the council is spending money on a 'fat cat' race.
If the council leave it to the market they will be blamed for lack of leadership (if it goes elsewhere).
They won't win whichever way it goes.

[Perry]

Common Sense? What's That?

Hold the ginger: New food rules opens can of home-grown worms
12 Nov 2017

Is it a lemon harangue from the chamomile cops, or just commonsense food safety? New nationwide food safety rules are starting to bite at country markets, with compliance and annual fees threatening the small profits stall owners hope to make.

Changes to the 2014 Food Act will kick in for food stall operators in March - and council "informational visits" to markets on the coast north of Wellington have left stallholders stunned. Some could face costs for food safety regulation that would entirely soak up their profit. Whether they face the fees could hang on where their chamomile or cucumbers came from.

A stallholder at a Waikanae market was "challenged" by [council] staff about the origin of the lemons she was selling. Under the new Food Act, children with no food safety experience could sell food 20 times a year without having to register, because they were fundraising. The charges seemed like "revenue gathering", she said.

The poll at that news item has 88% agreeing that it's council cashing in. Councils will just say that it's the law - of course. A ready-made excuse for all manner of stupidity.

[eri]

the last 2 Ak cup defences were a huge win for ak + nz

An America's Cup economic impact study estimated Auckland's regatta in 2003 injected an extra $529m into the economy, about the same as the event in 2000.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/94115152/americas-cup-would-bring-profile-and-visitors-to-the-country

which allowed the transformation of the viaduct area from a dodgy old fishing dock to the world class vibrant area it is today that more than pays its way

so it's simply an economic no-brainer that investing in another cup defence would return similar gains

but like chch council weren't up for rebuilding their own city...endless hand-wringing gets no where

and needed a firm hand from wellington to get the job underway

it seems ak council aren't up for much more than hand-wringing over something they've been begging for!

do they need a firm hand from wellington to take over too?

is wellington even up to it nowadays?

if people can't handle "the buck stops here" responsibility + difficult decisions of governing

then they shouldn't get into politics

local or central