It was interesting to attend the recent LGNZ Freedom Camping Symposium and hear how other Councils view the problem. The consensus appeared to be that campers were welcome; Councils were just requesting that Government share some of the income that these campers generate via GST and or additional taxes (such as a tourist tax at the boarder) to help with the required … [Read More...]
Featured Story
WIL Chairman Murray King Accuses TDC of High Appetite for Risk
Waimea Irrigators reveal some interesting information in their submissions to the Tasman District Council’s Long Term Plan. WIL chairman Murray King states … [Read More...]
Featured Story
Amazing Sleight Of Hand From The Mayor
Our Mayor demonstrated his amazing sleight of hand abilities at today’s council meeting. As a result of the tragic impact of the recent cyclones, the Mayor offered … [Read More...]
Featured Story
Wakefield Historical Mural
When the Wakefield Mural restoration group were in the market for an artist to refurbish the old historical mural on the side of the chemist shop I contacted local legend Pete Madsen and asked if he would be interested in a community project. He responded … [Read More...]
Mapua Drive Sculpture Dawn Blessing
It was an honour to be able to fill in for the Mayor at the dawn blessing ceremony of the Mapua Drive gateway sculpture. The hard work of many people in the community, especially those associated with the Coastal Initative Group has resulted in some striking … [Read More...]
Concerns Growing Over Waimea Dam
My concerns over the proposed Waimea Dam continue to grow. Not helped by the two days of “deliberations” following the recent public consultation. We were asked to submit any questions that we had prior to deliberations where a panel of “objective technical … [Read More...]
Dam What Is It Costing Me
Number Crunching the Dam One of the main questions arising around the dam is “How much is it going to cost me?” I will endeavour to unpack the figures as they have been presented. One staff member was explaining that these are the worst-case scenario, … [Read More...]
Waimea Dam Could Be Out By A Factor Of 10
One of the concerns that I have been raising within the Council Chambers (and numerous meetings and emails) has to do with stability of the dam reservoir walls. This has been a particularly pertinent issue for me since the Ratepayer has assumed the role of … [Read More...]
Buying Waimea Water Insecurity
Firstly, I apologise for being a little slow on the uptake to understand and convey this, but I had to wade through talk about Hectare equivalents, 100-year security of supply, environmental flows etc. However, I now believe that I understand how the dam … [Read More...]
Lies Damned Lies and Statistics
Following the distribution of the Newsline - the dam special edition, I have fielded a number of communications questioning the level of "propaganda" that council has stooped to. Initially, I was somewhat surprised of the response as my copy had not been … [Read More...]
