Reforms Agenda

What is the agenda of those pushing the RMA reforms?

The agenda is supposedly aimed at making Local Government more efficient , less costly to ratepayers and to have less regulation to allow more development.

During the week it was apparent again from the proponents  that they were working in this void where they were oblivious to historical events and as well they were deaf to any advice from experienced operators who understand the past performance of legislation and reasons why there were reactions and actions played out in case law and  events that had a shaped a path to deal with managing resources.

Young Ministers sit in the house and spout as though nothing significant  has happened historically in the area of responsibility.  

It is hard to comprehend.

Simon Upton had made some sensible comments in response to what is happening and the response from the Minister of unnecessary reforms was scathing in his put down of  a once respected Minister.

Around the country we have reports coming out with similar themes. Oh there will be savings by reducing the number of administrative staff . Millions and millions but surprise surprise the council activities will still be required and in no time a new setup will expand and we will be back to square one.

What will happen to democracy? 

New large authorities will be more distant from the ratepayers and there will be no more 'local' in local democracy.   

We are in for a rough ride in the next few years.

Authorities

They came and wrecked our houses

ripping them apart

tearing out the organs 

the kitchen , showers and bath.

Nothing stood in the way

It was a target

holding tight held no sway.

They could rip it from the hinges, rip it from the floor,

prise it from its brackets

going door to door.

It didn't take long

for the ghosts , unseen , to leave a shell.

An  unwelcome response, at a time of living hell.

Reinventing the Wheel

The ongoing discussions around a politicians dream are costing thousands of dollars and hours of time going around and around issues that have been before us not too long ago and bypassing solutions that astute observers are already aware of.

I have mentioned catchments previously and over the last week have listened to discussions by people that have finally discovered these things called catchments and that they are real and you can't divvy them up in some great deranged attempt at cutting costs foist upon us from bureaucrats and politicians that live in an alternative universe.

Catchments are the crutch of the issue and one of the main reasons that regional councils were formed.

To listen to a new raft of  parties trying to reinvent what we already have is frustrating and disappointing.

This is coming about because of the loss of institutional knowledge. Local government (and other bodies) have gone through a period where the experienced engineers, on the ground operators and a raft of  knowledge carrying staff were quietly moved on to retirement and other areas of endeavour.

The impact on this has been drastically underestimated as the new crew of know it alls have been left floundering and bereft of ideas when it comes to dealing with problems.

It was obvious following Gabrielle but three years down the track it is apparent that the whole country is suffering from knowledge neglect.

So we have commentators and even politicians discovering things like riparian planting and wilding pines as though they have just appeared out of the woodwork.

  Listening to a new crop of MP's in the house is concerning as many are young and have not had the benefit of working with experienced MP's and it shows in answers at question time. It's pretty sad.

I am hoping that there will be some changes after the election that will see wiser heads prevail but given some of the players involved  I am losing hope.

Ratepayers will be losers next year. 

    

Catchments Key

Perusing more reports from various regions  tackling the forced reforms I note a common theme that is not a surprise.

Historically New Zealand has always had a body responsible for catchments .It's not half obvious why given the last few years and the challenges thrown at the country by natural forces.

It is critical that NZ understands how important catchments are in the development of our regions as they have a major impact on water and it's path to the sea. Catchments  have been understood for many years but lately have not had the understanding of politicians or the community as they have become lost in the political desire to build flash facilities instead of  infrastructure that protects and provides.

The new crop of politicians are like Johnny come latelys with their approach to dealing with headaches such as why Local Government has become top heavy and dictatorial .

They need to look in the mirror and ask who created the problem.

Shucks I find myself agreeing with the latest from the NZ Initiative who have correctly identified the crux of the Local Government largesse.

A senior fellow with the NZI has said the current problem with local government is not too many councils but that too much power has been taken away from local communities and moved to central government .He says council staff have too much power and councillors are effectively rubber stamping decisions made by staff.

I have been saying for some time that central government is responsible for the increasing workload of councils and issues such as the climate scam have a band of merry advocates all around the country trying to change the temperature. The only temperature change is occurring to ratepayers that are paying for a dream.

Jones and Watts and Bishop have wrongly identified the reason why rates are forever rising and the rude attack on local government misses the target completely.

The worst part of the bullying is the forced removal of regional councillors. Regional councils are critical in regional responsibilities such as the control of rivers and water. Water allocation needs to be with a body separated from main users of the resource , urban populations.

It is a classic poacher game keeper situation but it is misunderstood by most ratepayers.

Proposals emerging to address the bullying see catchments split down the middle, boundaries being played with and representation  resets that will cause major problems in the future.

Hawkes Bay rural sector should be shaking in their gumboots if a Mayor of an urban area is in control of regional rural issues.

Leave the dam situation as it is and stop causing so much angst and cost to ratepayers.

      

 More Money

Talk about money.

Headline today in the ODT says that analysis estimated to cost $60,000 is expected to bring focus to talks about reshaping Local Government on Otago.

Repeat this around the country and there will be millions spent by councils that have been forced by Central Government to confront a major change in the makeup of  their fiefdoms.

Well that may not be fair in most cases and putting the boot in to Regional Councils will see the biggest disenfranchising of the rural sector since 1989.

You have to question who is going to do the analysis . Inhouse? Independent? Bureaucrats ?

This is a huge waste of money and once again the long suffering ratepayer will cough up .

At the same time another headline mentions the Westland District Council (note District Council) $8.6 million payroll figure that has been defended after the number and cost of staff  was raised at the table.

Wow!

Now we are talking. Getting to the nub of the problem.

But Bish and co will carry on in their costly bid to  rearrange LG .Sad.

    

 It's a Question of Money

Reflecting on the flurry of activity following Gabrielle makes one question who was driving the decision making and who was trying to avoid money. Eg responsibility. Any responsibility.

Decisions had to be made and there were some good people involved . It was also a time for some objective analysis  and cool minds to assist in working through an emotional and traumatic period.

One mistake that was made in my opinion was the categorisation of flooded areas because this immediately caused a reaction from affected ratepayers. It was a hasty decision .Heartless and far reaching in it's pointed targeting of some and relief  for others.

The affect was to pitch ratepayer against ratepayer and cause jostling for positions in line for the best payout.

Fairness was lost in the quest to solve problems that needed better  understanding and satisfactory solutions.

At the moment I believe that move to categorise was a knee jerk reaction to copy the Christchurch earthquake situation.

I have never had time to investigate how that worked for Christchurch but it was wrong to use it as a blueprint following Gabrielle.

Large sums of money were  paid out in  and it was all confidential. We will never know the details but it is probable that some lost out and some did very well.

Was the whole deal made to benefit the banks, the insurance industry , the councils and the Government?

Something to ponder.

I feel the flood response in Carolina had a better foundation where all affected owners had a sum paid to them to help the process. I believe the payment was in the vicinity of $45 K.

A payment such as this  could have been covered by the Regional Council. This was an emergency and the responsibility for what happened could be possibly laid at the door of the HBRC given the evidence that emerged and the clarification of how events happened.

That is for another day but I suggest the RC could have made  general payment given they have such a large investment fund.

The fund has been built up in some large part due to the sale of leasehold land inherited following the 1931 earthquake.

It would be fitting to use those funds from one disaster to help in another.

Of course it is denial all the way because they do not want to admit liability and face consequences.

They have around $500 million that could have been tapped to help impacted ratepayers and Government could have facilitated that happening if required to do so.

There should be some lessons learnt from this disaster.         

Money

I was watching a discussion on YT about  financial advice and investing money.

The financial advisor was saying how every clients situation was so different and gave a number of examples of   situations where planning was made to suit the clients requirements.

Not surprising but it made me think of the situations of  residents following Gabrielle and as stories arose it was something I pondered while passing through the clouds of repair.

Talking to the church helpers and others who passed through , enabled me to build a picture of a diverse range of  life situations that were frozen in time while those affected took stock and proceeded to unpack and repack their upended lives.

It really was fascinating hearing the tales of  so many who were confronting problems with councils, insurance , banks, lost records, lost memories at the same time as having to deal with the stress of the disaster.

There were longtime residents, new arrivals, renters, old young, retirees, tradies, corporates, absent landowners and the list goes on.

The question was how can you solve every ones problems stemming from one destructive event.

Immediately  following the flood  there was a combined effort. Every one was in the same state of shock and banded together as one. It was a time of discovery and strength as we fought back from the abyss.

Ahead lay the mess and the way back to reality through masses of challenges and brick walls.

Yes every one had different circumstances but all circumstances were a challenge in our lives that we didn't need.