https://www.npratepayers.nz en-nz New Plymouth Ratepayers Alliance 30 Tue, 1 Apr 2025 12:15:51 +1300 daily 1 https://www.website.world https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225920 Following on from the story about the Devon Street West "Cycleway Separators", there is an "instruction manual" video with the news item. (Click on the blue heading above to find out more). Tue, 1 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225920 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225917 Households along the Spotswood end of Devon Street West got their letters this week to let them know cycleway “separators” will start being installed in early April. These are little concrete barriers to make sure cars don’t drive on to the cycleways. (Click on the blue heading above to read the story). Tue, 1 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225917 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225842 They are looking for Pulse Checkers. "What are the Pulse Checkers? Always on the pulse, our team of Pulse Checkers are who we reach out to when we need to get a view on our services, activities, or plans. They are our go-to group of ratepayers and residents when we want to understand what people think about what we do at NPDC. They do this by answering questionnaires, taking part in focus groups, or being interviewed." Here’s your opportunity to tell them you don’t agree (click on the link below) Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225842 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225627 We posted recently that the Western Bay of Plenty Council has pulled out of LGNZ as have 6 other Councils in NZ in recent months. We had been looking at this topic ourselves and whether it’s a good thing for New Plymouth to be a member of LGNZ. Click on the blue heading above to find out more. Tue, 25 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225627 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225568 Western Bay of Plenty District Council is the latest council to leave national advocacy body Local Government New Zealand. There were claims LGNZ had become “extremely political”, had swung “far left” and lacked professionalism. Other councils that have left LGNZ include Christchurch City, Auckland, West Coast Regional, Grey, Kaipara and Westland District. Watch this space as we have also been looking at LGNZ from a New Plymouth perspective and will have more information to share soon. Click on the link to read more about Western Bay of Plenty. Sat, 22 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225568 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225405 The Taxpayers Union has been running a monthly poll over the last 2 years and have ranked the responses from all the regions about their Mayors and how well they are doing. Our current Mayor Neil Holdom has not been rated very highly. Click on this link to see the result: Mon, 17 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225405 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225402 An interesting Daily News item last week featuring Bryan Vickery and the remuneration of Councillors. (Click on the blue heading above to read the story). Sun, 16 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225402 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225093 One of the comments made this week about the current debt at the NPDC suggested it would be interesting to compare the level of Debt in 2004 – when the PIF fund was created – with the level of debt now in 2024. The comment suggested it would be good to compare Apples with Apples. Click on the blue heading above to read how things have changed in the last 20 years. Sun, 9 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225093 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225069 Does the following sound like you, or someone you know ? Have you ever thought about trying to fix what is going on at the NPDC ? Do you watch all the spending on things we as ratepayers know we don’t need, and want to do something about that ? Do you feel the Council doesn’t listen to what the Community has to say ? Have you thought I’d really like to stop Yes being said at every Council meeting, and the spending of even more money that keeps increasing our rates and debt ? Do you know someone who has said these things to you ? Do you know someone who wants to bring about change at the NPDC ? E-mail us, or ask the people you think may be interested to email us. We are looking at hosting a meeting for potential candidates, to help people decide if running for council is for them. Do you, or someone you know, want to make a difference in the 2025 New Plymouth Election ? Registrations close on 1st August 2025 to be a candidate this year. This is the time to be deciding if you want to get involved. New Plymouth badly needs people who will say No, we are NOT going to keep spending ratepayers’ money on more nice to have things. We badly need people who will say Yes to just basic infrastructure and services, and lower rates and lower debt. Is that you, or someone you know ? Please get in touch to meet other like minded people, to help you decide if you’d like to run in this year’s election, and find out what’s involved to do that. E-mail : ratepayersnp@gmail.com Or, Phone Kevin Moratti: 0274 246 868 Sat, 8 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225069 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225068 This is a copy of a recent post from Murray Chong – an NPDC Councillor. 2 weeks ago I tried to move a motion (at a Council meeting) to save money on our rate rises by reducing what money we give the LLC by 50%, as just this one motion would have been the biggest reduction on our rate rises (2% less). Click on the blue heading above to read the rest of the story. Sat, 8 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2225068 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2224828 We recently featured on the front page of the Daily News with closing comments about reducing debt at the NPDC. We’ve also recently emailed you about the situation with Debt at the Waitaki Council in the South Island, where their debt has grown substantially in the last few years – in a similar way to our own region. This is a story about the NPDC Debt. (Click on the heading above in blue to read the story). Tue, 4 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2224828 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2224007 This is a story about the Devon St West Cycleway. Who didn’t want it, who didn’t fund it, how it went ahead anyway, which councillors voted for it, and a presentation to the NPDC about the flow on effects of their decision. (Click on the blue heading above to read the story) Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2224007 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223895 You may recall we said we would come back to the information in the OIA we did about recycling the building materials from the removal of the Public Race Stand, as part of the Sports Hub project. (Click on the blue heading above to read the Story). Sun, 16 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223895 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223898 You may remember back in November last year we ran a few stories about the $1.2M Steps to go in at Fitzroy Beach in 2025. There was an update about the Steps in the Daily News yesterday. (Click on the blue heading above to view the story). Sun, 16 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223898 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223740 You may remember we encouraged our supporters to contact the council about the removal of the Race Stand, which they did, and for those who sent an e-mail, the Mayor (and his spin doctors) wrote back. We as the Alliance then wrote to the Council, and the Mayor wrote back to us. Both the reply to us, and our supporters, had some bold statements and raised some questions for us, so we did a little bit of Roving Reporting and a few OIA’s. Click on the heading above to see the full story. Fri, 7 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223740 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223577 We see Gareth Green proudly announcing last week the rates increase this year has been brought down by a whole 0.4% - to what he states as a 9.9% increase for 2025. First comment we’d make – this is more than 4 times the rate of inflation – so not sure how proud the NPDC should be of this figure. Second comment we’d make – would this be an average increase of 9.9% ? So where people last year ended up with 14% and 19% increases with their rates – as they were at the top end of the average increases – what might their top end of the average increase be this year ? 13% and 18% ? People will find out when their rates bill arrives in July. Gareth considers 0.4% to be rates “screwed down and really hard work”. We’re pretty sure a lot of businesses in New Plymouth have been doing some really hard work on reducing their costs by a lot more than 0.4% to keep up with the rising costs of doing business. And we’re pretty sure there are a lot of New Plymouth households with a lot more that 0.4% in increased costs who have a lot less income to go around. We do hope the NPDC are still thinking really hard about how the rates increases can be brought down much closer to the normal rate of inflation. Tue, 4 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223577 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223365 Finance Minister Nicola Willis has warned Councils that Central Government is considering putting a cap on rate increases as some countries have done overseas. Imagine knowing as a ratepayer what to allow for as a maximum rate increase each year, one that sits around the amount of inflation - at the moment just 2.2% - not the 19.45% some ratepayers experienced last year. Imagine a Council not being able to increase rates based on whims individual Councillors have in Long Term Plans, and that they actually have to concentrate on living within an operating budget that has a capped amount it can increase by. Imagine they have to deliver the infrastructure the city needs first, and if anything is left over from that, then other nice to have projects could be considered. The Council would start to live in a world (like we do) that they need to keep within their budget and look at shedding unnecessary costs. Imagine living in a world where ratepayers are not afraid of what might be in the next Long Term Plan, where the estimated budget will blow out, where rates increases will have to cover the extra costs due to inadequate budget preparation. Imagine that we wouldn’t be ignored when saying no with Long Term Plans, as the Council wouldn’t have the capacity to put projects that aren’t supported by the community in the Long Term Plans in the first place, as the costs would go over the rate of inflation. It is just possible that the tap of the NPDC money tree would be switched off. Imagine … Tue, 28 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223365 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223244 We start 2025 with plans heading into an election in October, and plans to reach a lot of people in the District. Our goal is to help people understand why it is so important who they vote for this year. As a totally self-funded organisation, getting these messages out to everyone needs fundraising to help us on our way. Just so you have an idea of why we are asking, the following are the types of things we need to cover the costs for: $625 - for our website build last year and hosting costs for a year. $460 - for thousands of contact cards to hand out to people. $3000 - to print thousands of flyers to deliver before the election. $1,000 - to hire meeting rooms for public meetings. $2,700 - to advertise pre-election messages across town. Over the next few months we need to raise close to $8,000 to achieve what we are setting out to do. We have had some very generous help with discounts from local businesses, but we would appreciate any donations our supporters can also offer towards these costs. A small amount regularly would be really helpful, but all donations of any amount would be very much appreciated. Our bank account details are: New Plymouth Ratepayers Alliance 15 3943 0039254 00 Please put your name and the word “Donation” as a reference. Thank you for your support and interest in our organisation. Thu, 23 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223244 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223104 One of our roving reporters saw the notice from the NPDC that water restrictions had come in again recently. It was a warm and muggy day and thoughts went to the kids at the new Waterpark and which day affected their use of the Waterpark – the odds day or the evens day. That’s a bit of a tongue in cheek statement of course. The people who pay the bills for water have the restriction’s, but the restrictions don’t apply to everyone in New Plymouth these days. This roving reporter hadn’t seen the Waterpark so went to see how water was being used in the middle of restrictions with this new facility. Of course the kids and their families were having a fantastic time, that has been the whole point of the park. But how does this fit with messages by our Council that we must conserve water at home ? The ratepayers and renters who foot the bill must go without every second day, even if they are relying on water to grow food to feed themselves. Restricted at home, but at a Council approved facility water can be used with abandon ? The NPDC is likely to tell us they have all sorts of conservation methods with this use of water, you may have those methods at home too, but there are no restrictions on water use when the Council decides it’s OK, but restrictions on you at home instead. It was ironic to notice in the changing world we live in, right next to the Waterpark is an ocean full of 100% free water. In this particular part of New Plymouth at low tide there are rock pools full of safe cool water for kids to access too. But we live in a world where we don’t teach our kids how to be safe around water anymore, like school kids used to get taught in previous generations, so now we need to set up a Waterpark right next to the free ocean water, to keep our kids safe. Plenty of people along the streets by the Waterpark, who have real trouble with water restrictions and droughts every year, made submissions to the NPDC about using water for fun at the expense of home owners who don’t have access to enough in Summer. But the decision has been made, having fun is a better decision for our Council, than making sure ratepayers and renters have access to water every day in Summer too. It was really good to see a lot of kids and their families enjoying the water at the park. We’re not trying to suggest for a minute that shouldn’t be happening. It’s just such a shame that the people who foot the bill for the water in New Plymouth, the ratepayers and the renters, that they don’t have a Council who makes sure there is plenty of access to water with the growing population in New Plymouth. This is one of those basic services our Council is here to provide for us. Don’t know about anyone else but there does seem to be a tonne of rain that lands over New Plymouth every year. It would be really nice if Long Term Plans could include things like capturing more rainfall and making sure there is plenty of water for everyone to enjoy, including the people who pay the rates bills. Fri, 17 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223104 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223060 We’ve attached a flyer which tells people a little bit about who we are (click on View PDF at the bottom). If you have access to a printer, would you like to print this off, cut between the contact info tags at the bottom, and take this to places where you spend your time. If people like the message, they can tear off a tag at the bottom, so they can visit our website or Facebook page. The places to leave the flyers might be the gym, hobby classes, exercise classes, businesses where you shop, family gatherings, coffees with friends, your workplace (check first with your boss), anywhere you might be comfortable to tell people about our group. Please always ask permission of the property owner at any place you would like to leave the flyers. This will really help to spread the word, if you are comfortable to help us out with this. Tue, 14 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223060 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223000 Wow - Over 21,500 views on Facebook, and over 400 visits to our Website, in the last 5 days. Did you also send your comments to the NPDC about their new plan with the removal of the Race Stand ? We are so pleasantly surprised that our story has resonated with so many people. And very importantly, people have been contacting the NPDC and telling them they do not like the changed plan for the Community Hub, which has not been consulted about, which removes the public race stand. o Have you got the time to make contact with the NPDC if you haven’t already ? o Have you been brave enough to tell them you don’t agree ? o Do you think we should tell the NPDC this project should be stopped ? A supporter this week told us they have emailed the New Plymouth MP and The Minister for Local Government to ask for the demolition of the Race Stand to be stopped until the NPDC actually consults on the new plan • Which has completely removed the turf phase of the project, and • Now has just one building and no Public Race stand, and • Costs more than the original consultation, which had 2 phases to it, and lots of facilities for the kids Just a reminder of how you can make contact with the NPDC: • Email the council at enquiries@npdc.govt.nz • Post a message on their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/NewPlymouthDistrictCouncil/ • Email the Mayor, The Councillors, The CEO, and the Executive Leadership Team (Just copy the list below and paste that into the address line of a new e-mail). If you are new to giving your opinion to the Council, and are not yet brave enough to use your full name, use just your first name in these ways: • Ring the Council call centre on 759-6060 and tell them you do not support them starting on the Sports Hub project. When they ask for all your details, politely tell them you are only giving your first name, and their job as a council employee is to take your complaint and pass it on to the elected Mayor, Councillors and CEO. • Write a note, put just your first name on it and hand deliver it in an envelope to reception at the NPDC. What types of things might you say to the NPDC ? • I do not support the Tuparikino Active Community Hub project and I want it stopped. • I do not want the NPDC to borrow $50 million in new debt for a 6 court sports building and carpark. • I do not want the Public Race Stand removed from the racing club area. • Why is the NPDC demolishing a well used building and filling up Landfill with waste ? I do not want this project to start. • The NPDC have misled the New Plymouth public about what will be delivered with this project and I do not support you going ahead with it. • What was in the 2021 Long Term Plan with a $40 million budget is a lot more extensive than what you are now proposing to build in 2025 for $50 million. What you are now building is not the plan you received submissions for in 2021. You have misrepresented the original plan to the New Plymouth public and I want this project stopped. The Council email addresses: Council neil.holdom@npdc.govt.nz amanda.clintongohdes@npdc.govt.nz anneka.carlson@npdc.govt.nz bali.haque@npdc.govt.nz bryan.vickery@npdc.govt.nz david.bublitz@npdc.govt.nz dinnie.moeahu@npdc.govt.nz gordon.brown@npdc.govt.nz harry.duynhoven@npdc.govt.nz marie.pearce@npdc.govt.nz max.brough@npdc.govt.nz murray.chong@npdc.govt.nz sam.bennett@npdc.govt.nz tewaka.mcleod@npdc.govt.nz Executive Team gareth.green@npdc.govt.nz jacqueline.baker@npdc.govt.nz bernie.odonnell@npdc.govt.nz helena.williams@npdc.govt.nz sarah.downs@npdc.govt.nz kathryn.scown@npdc.govt.nz Remember to send us an email if you contact the Council, so we can remind the Council how many people don’t agree with this project going ahead. Our e-mail address is: ratepayersnp@gmail.com Please also tell all your friends and family about this updated proposal and ask them to contact the NPDC if they are also not happy with what is now being proposed. Thanks so much for your interest and support. Sun, 12 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2223000 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222855 According to Deputy Mayor David Bublitz in an article in Stuff last month, the “Tuparikino Active Community Hub will be a game changer.” Just 6 indoor multi use courts and a new carpark for $50 million, which may possibly attract people from out of town to visit New Plymouth to use them, or it may not. The indoor courts themselves may not be a game changer, but the Sports Hub plan is definitely going to be a huge game changer for some followers of New Plymouth Sport. Spot the elephant in the room in the NPDC site plan for the Sports Hub (photo on the right). Right in front of the existing TSB Stadium is the brand new Arena. The elephant in the room – where is the existing Public Stand to watch the races ? It is no longer there. To the left of the new Arena is new permanent carparks. So where will the followers of New Plymouth Racing get to see their sport on Race Days ? We got a reply to an OIA in late December which confirmed that the plan to put in the new Arena means the existing Public Race Stand will be removed. When we asked how will racing customers see their sport the NPDC responded with “The event layout for race days will be determined by Taranaki Racing Inc.” Not sure where they think race day customers will see the races from with this plan, but the NPDC response clearly shows it is not of any concern to them. Do you recall back in 2021 the Sports Hub was going to be amazing – there would be indoor courts – but phase one was going to be the turf areas. In the NPDC’s own words in June 2023 “Taranaki’s young sports stars are crying out for more room to play and train”. The 2021 plan talked about the likes of cricket pitches, soccer & hockey fields, a one stop place for kids to play all sorts of different sports, as well as indoor courts. $50 million for that concept – may be that could be justified. But a plan that now has $50 million for one building with just 6 indoor courts, and a new carpark area, which knocks down another existing building which is widely used by local people, and visitors, putting money into the local economy – how is that a plan that works for all the community ? At the Alliance we wondered how this project was going to cost $50 million for one building. The removal of the existing race stand will incur huge demolition costs. We have to ask the question how on earth does the demolition of an existing, well maintained building, with local history and wide spread use by the New Plymouth public and visitors, how does that fit with the NPDC Zero Waste policy where we are no longer creating waste for the landfill. We have bin inspectors for our bins at home - so we have to reduce our waste – the NPDC can knock over a complete useful building and send that to landfill and that’s okay ? All for the sake of just 6 indoor multi use courts, with a $50 million price tag, which of course relies on the project actually coming in on budget ? And this $50 million price tag will be new debt the NPDC will be taking on for you to pay through your rates and rents. Do you think the 2021 Long Term Plan was a misrepresentation of what was going to be constructed with this Sports Hub project ? We note the name is now “Active Community Hub,” with little mention of the word “Sport”. Is that because all the turf sport concepts have been removed and this is not the project the original submissions covered ? Is this actually a completely different plan but with the same price tag ? Does this misrepresent the submissions that were asked for back in 2021 ? Did the 4,447 people who submitted on this project in 2021 make incorrect statements based on a different concept altogether ? Remembering that around 30% of submitters did not agree with the concept back in 2021 – which included sports fields as phase one in the plan – which are no longer mentioned. For the last few months we have been saying through our posts and blogs that we want to create a “Voice to be Heard” for New Plymouth Ratepayers. We can tell you constantly what is not going right at the NPDC, but the only way that things will change is if lots of people who live in New Plymouth start telling our Council – Elected officials, and the up until now, faceless Executive Team – that we do not like how they are spending our very hard earned rates money. If you do not want the NPDC to go ahead with this extravagant use of ratepayer money for the Tuparikino Active Community Hub please tell them you do not support them in one of the following ways: • Email the council at enquiries@npdc.govt.nz • Post a message on their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/NewPlymouthDistrictCouncil/ • Email the Mayor, The Councillors, The CEO, and the Executive Leadership Team (Just copy the list below and paste that into the address line of a new e-mail). If you are new to giving your opinion to the Council, and are not yet brave enough to use your full name, use just your first name in these ways: • Ring the Council call centre on 759-6060 and tell them you do not support them starting on the Sports Hub project. When they ask for all your details, politely tell them you are only giving your first name, and their job as a council employee is to take your complaint and pass it on to the elected Mayor, Councillors and CEO. • Write a note, put just your first name on it and hand deliver it in an envelope to reception at the NPDC. What types of things might you say to the NPDC ? I do not support the Tuparikino Active Community Hub project and I want it stopped. I do not want the NPDC to borrow $50 million in new debt for a 6 court sports building and carpark. I do not want the Public Race Stand removed from the racing club area. Why is the NPDC demolishing a well used building and filling up Landfill with waste ? I do not want this project to start. The NPDC have misled the New Plymouth public about what will be delivered with this project and I do not support you going ahead with it. What was in the 2021 Long Term Plan with a $40 million budget is a lot more extensive than what you are now proposing to build in 2025 for $50 million. What you are now building is not the plan you received submissions for in 2021. You have misrepresented the original plan to the New Plymouth public and I want this project stopped. The Council email addresses: Council neil.holdom@npdc.govt.nz amanda.clintongohdes@npdc.govt.nz anneka.carlson@npdc.govt.nz bali.haque@npdc.govt.nz bryan.vickery@npdc.govt.nz david.bublitz@npdc.govt.nz dinnie.moeahu@npdc.govt.nz gordon.brown@npdc.govt.nz harry.duynhoven@npdc.govt.nz marie.pearce@npdc.govt.nz max.brough@npdc.govt.nz murray.chong@npdc.govt.nz sam.bennett@npdc.govt.nz tewaka.mcleod@npdc.govt.nz Executive Team gareth.green@npdc.govt.nz jacqueline.baker@npdc.govt.nz bernie.odonnell@npdc.govt.nz helena.williams@npdc.govt.nz sarah.downs@npdc.govt.nz kathryn.scown@npdc.govt.nz When you have taken action with the NPDC send us an email so we can remind the Council how many people don’t agree with this project going ahead. Our e-mail address is: ratepayersnp@gmail.com Please also tell all your friends and family about this updated proposal by the NPDC and ask them to contact the Council if they are not happy with what is now being proposed. Tue, 7 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222855 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222857 Tue, 7 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222857 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222498 We have some fantastic news to end the year. Attached is a press release from Simeon Brown this week, as the Minister for Local Government, announcing “The Government has agreed to reforms that refocus local councils on delivering essential services and core infrastructure, spending responsibly, and operating under greater scrutiny”. All the topics we have been investigating and raising concerns about. There is also mention of removing references to the ‘four well-beings’ – these being the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of communities – and ensuring local councils get back to looking after the core infrastructure for their communities. Changes to legislation for local councils are planned for 2025. There is still plenty for us to be sharing and working to change before new legislation is passed but we are so pleased to see these changes being discussed at central government level. Wed, 18 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222498 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222340 We ran a post on Facebook in early November where a news item quoted how new cross council entities (in our case New Plymouth, Stratford and South Taranaki combined) can “Borrow up to 500% of operating revenue, almost double what they can borrow now” to upgrade their water infrastructure. Currently with the Long Term Plan system they can’t borrow more than 135%. We covered a story Glenn Maclean had written for Stuff in October this year, with options available for working collaboratively across the councils. NPDC was keen to get together with Stratford and Hawera to discuss cost sharing across all 3 regions and had arranged meetings at the NPDC to get the ball rolling early on with how this could be done. This prompted several of our team to see what the other councils are thinking about this issue so our Roving Reporters recently ventured down SH3 to meet with the Stratford Mayor and CEO. They had the opportunity to discuss how Stratford are progressing with the proposed new water plans for their region. It was interesting to learn from this meeting that Stratford is below borrowings on their Balance Sheet for water assets, and are capable of this with only 50% of their ratepayers on Council water reticulation. Stratford target all rates collected in respect of water in a consolidated fund for use with only water projects. With this careful management system Stratford are more than capable to stand alone going forward with the consents and reticulation systems that are currently in place. There was discussion about the future waste water system when the current consents run out in 10 years, which may be an area with possibility of the regions working together. Our team talked with the Stratford Mayor and CEO about the NPDC proposed new set-up covering representative numbers of each Council on a Board, or an administrative group. The Stratford viewpoint was there would need to be equal representation for each region if any of these groups were to be set up. There are a lot of issues to be worked out across all three regions so the costs are spread equitably across the three Councils. The costs of water delivery, administration, plant, satellite offices, water departments and any extra staff all need to be considered and apportioned without any one region being worse off than they are at this point. It was good to hear that all Councils in Taranaki currently co-operate on producing some commodities to get better prices. The Alliance will continue to monitor and update you on the "Water done well" programme across our region. We will also continue to monitor a Co-Governance model which is still part of discussions here in New Plymouth, long after the Taxpayers Union and the 3 waters roadshow tours put that model to bed prior to the last General Election. Tue, 10 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222340 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221995 A few weeks ago the NPDC Deputy Mayor wrote an opinion piece on how "The Government needs to help us save". We found it an interesting opinion in the middle of a cost of living crisis for many households paying rates and rent in this region. There seems to be two types of themes in this article. Remove democratic rights for voters, so the community has less say, then it would be quicker and cheaper for the Council to get on and make things happen. Redistribute Government Tax so the Council gets to spend it. The Government paying tax on Government owned land would be a new tax created for households to pay to the Government, which would then be paid to the Council. More money for the Council but extra expense for ratepayers and renters. There doesn't seem to be any mention of how everyday people would have less to pay in rates, rent or taxes by actually bringing down the cost of projects, or running the Council. Don't know if anyone else reading this thought the same ? Sun, 1 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221995 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222020 We see a local lad picked up our article about the $1.2M steps and has done a few sums. What does everyone think ? Should we have a bit more transparency about how costs are worked out at the NPDC ? Sun, 1 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2222020 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221992 Also in the news this week is an article about an NPDC Report showing a multi million dollar shortfall in the Draft Annual Report. There is a Long Term Plan done every 3 years, and with the 2 years in between an audited report is done to see how that Long Term Plan is tracking. This is called the Annual Report, and the multi million dollar shortfall is in this years’ annual report. We mentioned about the Fitzroy Steps the other day and will that budget blow out, but it seems budgets are not coming in as they should across multiple council budgets. There are a lot of numbers in the article and we know some people see numbers and just don’t want to go any further. So we’ve summarised what’s in this article to a level that any household, business or farmer looks at on a day to day basis. There is the money you bring in (income), the money you pay out (costs) and if things don’t add up, the amount you may have to borrow to cover the shortfall (loans). So according to the numbers in this Post article, the NPDC had: $20.7 Million less income come in And, $24.8 Million more costs to pay out They raided $3.4 Million from the Transport budget (that tin you have at home in the back of the pantry for emergencies) and this was used to prop up the increase in costs. After that they paid out only $21.4 Million more in costs – but – there is $3.4 million less to spend on fixing the roads. So all up, across all the different budgets, and the money that didn’t come in, and the extra expenses going out, the council ended up with a $37 million shortfall of what they had expected. This is why the item this week about building the expensive steps in Fitzroy is important. $1.2M on the steps – may go to $2.2M ? - $3.4M less for roads, $4.1M less here, $7.9 M more there – before you know it we are $37M worse off. That $37M has to come from somewhere. The article tells us the loan repayments being made by the council have gone up by 60%. Is that where the extra $37M comes from – increased loans ? The Alliance is asking the NPDC to seriously consider reducing the projects already in the pipeline and make sure they have their budgeting and forecasting correct and under control. They are already raiding the transport fund for day to day expenses, so they need to make sure they cut back on extra spending that is just not needed at this time. Our planning team is doing a lot of work around how all these things are done and how it all adds up. This takes a lot of time for non council people to figure out, but we plan to cover more of how the NPDC are operating, so people have more understanding how decisions are made about spending our rates. Click on the blue heading above to read the News Article. Feel free to suggest to people you know they may like to visit our Website to read these articles. Sun, 1 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221992 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221994 Really, does it have to be so complicated ? And so expensive ? Sun, 1 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221994 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221993 This is another article in recent news which sets the usual tone of how the Council needs more money from you the ratepayer. These articles don’t seem to make suggestions of how money could be saved elsewhere, the messages seem to prepare the ratepayer for higher rates. When is the NPDC going to start seriously thinking about how they are going to reduce the overall cost of running the Council ? Continual budget blowouts and shortfalls are having a big impact on the amount being paid by New Plymouth ratepayers. The article talks of the possibility of street lights falling on our heads or bridges failing. The spin of the Council bringing fear to everyone so you understand why your rates bill must increase. We have to ask the question – street lights – are they not the everyday basic infrastructure that is included in your rates – the activity the Council should take care of first before spending any money on anything else ? This article quotes: “NZTA had indicated $113 M would be provided in funding for New Plymouth Roads, but the final budget is only $86M - $27M less than expected”. Quoted in the article “A council officer's report said councillors would have to consider increasing its level of funding to meet the shortfall, maintain its funding and reprioritise what projects went ahead, or decrease funding and axe some jobs “ Could the Ratepayers Alliance suggest if only $86M was received in funding then the Council works out a new budget for roading that uses just the $86M received. Draw up a new plan for just the critical work that is needed to repair old infrastructure. We would also ask why the Council is not suggesting some “nice to have” projects in the Long Term Plan be put on hold and money from those diverted into any shortfall for critical infrastructure ? If the Council truly thinks street lights are going to start dropping out of the sky, and bridges are going to fail, then why are they not suggesting multiple projects in the Long Term Plan are suspended and that money be transferred to spend on critical infrastructure work ? The ratepayers of New Plymouth are not a bottomless pit of money who can continually cover a Council with a wish list of costs that just keeps getting longer. Sun, 1 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221993 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221996 After 6 weeks, we posted this about our 2 teams beavering away with great effort, getting us up and running and working out where we are heading. A big milestone at this point as we had all signed off on one of the teams’ plans. There is still a lot of leg work to do before you will start seeing more progress, but just letting you know a lot is still happening in the background. Sun, 1 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221996 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221891 Sam Bennett’s Views on the Fitzroy $1.2M Steps In a recent Stratford Press article Sam Bennett explains why specifically at Fitzroy Beach, with the extremely steep access to the beach, accessibility access must be provided. This is a Council project with an estimated price tag of only $1.2M which is not a big number in the overall scheme of Council spending, so you may think why would we run a second item about this on our Facebook page. Of course we would need to trust the $1.2M doesn’t turn into $3M or more. The thing is when our Councillors tell us where they stand on the small issues, they are also telling us where they stand on the big issues. Two of those big issues in the last 2 weeks have ratepayers being subjected to a $27M shortfall and a $37 M loss. All the losses, no matter how big or how small, all add up, and decisions are being made about spending our rates, and borrowing money, in the same way as outlined in this story. This is a story mostly about irony – Sam is championing for what he considers is a neglected group of the community – but his Council is making life extremely difficult for that same group of the community. Sam is quoted in the article: “I’m involved with a lot of groups such as Grey Power, Positive Ageing, Age Concern Taranaki, Enabling Good Lives, all organisations that represent people who may have accessibility issues, and in each group people are telling me they feel like they’re being treated like second-class citizens. They feel they are an afterthought.” The Alliance would like to ask how in touch really is Sam with the members who belong to Grey Power, Positive Ageing and Age Concern. We are very aware of elderly people on a fixed income pension who are seriously considering having to sell their home because they can’t afford to pay their rates. For some pensioners they are heading toward their rates being 20% of the income they have for the entire year. Where are these people going to live when they can no longer afford to live in their own home ? Are you affected by your rates increase impacting on whether you can stay living in your home ? Do you have elderly parents or family affected by this issue ? Perhaps you would like to e-mail Sam Bennett and let him know if his way of thinking is not helpful for you or your family ? Sam’s e-mail address is: sam.bennett@npdc.govt.nz Sam Bennett also thinks it is important for the Council to keep creating big projects. Sam again quoted: “When we go to build a new asset, we need to think about building that asset for the mainstream of the community, and the mainstream community is inclusive of everyone, irrespective of whether you’ve got a disability or an impairment with your age.” The Ratepayers Alliance would like to ask, when the committee meets to talk about upgrading assets, do they just jump into what would be the most amazing option we could build there ? Or do they ask if there is a cost effective alternative to how to address the issue in front of them ? A cost effective option which means pensioners on fixed incomes, who also have accessibility issues, are not being rated out of their homes with these expensive projects and large increases in rates. Last week the Ratepayers Alliance suggested signs could be put in at Beach Street to divert people with accessibility issues to East End Beach in Strandon – a 500m diversion to flat, safe access to the walkway and beach. Sam thought this was inconvenient: Why should those people have to go 500 metres that way or that way when they can come there?” How about another low cost alternative for Sam if gaining access at Strandon is not convenient. How about the steep road down to Fitzroy Beach is turned into a shared space like outside the New Plymouth Library. The speed limit is set to just 5km an hour and everyone very slowly works their way up and down the hill in a shared space, with whatever mobility devices and cars they have. It’s worked at the library – there has been no injuries – so it’s not a health and safety issue ? Is that a possible alternative option that won’t cost $1.2M and won’t push elderly people out of their homes because their rates are too high? We’d also like to highlight a comment by Sam Bennett in the Stratford Press article: “If we just replace the steps, who is that going to serve? Not everyone. It will serve the tyranny of the majority, and override the minority of people that have these accessibility issues, and that’s not fair.” What does Sam Bennett mean by the “Tyranny of the Majority” ? Would the majority be the people who pay the rates and the rents - (due to the rates putting rents up) ? Are the ratepayers and renters of New Plymouth a Tyranny ? What on earth does Sam Bennett mean by this comment ? You may like to ask him – his e-mail address is listed above. Sam is quoted again: “I know that times are tough, but this project is going to go ahead early next year, and it will be it will be a game changer for our community.” So does that mean the Tyranny of the Majority – the Ratepayers and Renters – have no say, this project is happening regardless of whether the elderly can afford to pay the increased rates due on their homes and it’s happening regardless of whether the majority of New Plymouth wants this expensive option ? Where is the democracy in our Council processes with this asset upgrade and the way of thinking about the majority of people who live in New Plymouth ? We’ve run two stories this week which highlight the need to think carefully about who people want to represent them when they are voting next time. The local government people representing us may not always be how they appear when they are campaigning. Fri, 29 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221891 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221090 Thanks to our friends over at the Tax Payers Union we’ve become aware of a plan for the NPDC to build a set of steps and a ramp at Fitzroy Beach for $1.2M. The article tells us this was in the Long Term Plan. Did any of our supporters notice it there ? Mayor Holdem is quoted as saying “safety with prams, bikes, wheelchairs and mobility scooters is an issue with a narrow 2 lane road” down to the carpark. It is being suggested mums are taking their prams down the hill for the kids to use the pool – then they are pushing the pram back up the hill ? That’s an epic walk back up that hill when there is a great carpark right by the pool. We’re not sure how many parents are actually pushing prams up and down that hill. We did a Roving Reporter trip out to the steps in question. Mobility access is very important but we had a simple idea of how mobility access could be promoted to a nice flat access to the walkway. If you turn into Beach Road – with the offending steep steps at the end – halfway along Beach Road meets McLean Street. How about on that intersection signage is put up to turn left for safe Mobility access to a lovely flat beach – East End Beach at Strandon. Travel down McLean Street and where it meets Nobs Line, put in more signage to turn right - straight down to East End Beach. Nice and flat and so easy to access. Fitzroy Beach is also accessible from Strandon along the nice flat walkway. Is there a reason the NPDC needs to find a really expensive way of doing projects ? Do we believe this project would come in at $1.2M or will it blow out ? And the NPDC seem to love combining a project in New Plymouth with Government money. They don’t seem to understand that is just using our tax money without asking us about that first either. P.S Come back in a few days when we will have a story about how well the NPDC are doing at managing their budgets – it ties in really well with this article. Thu, 14 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +1300 https://www.npratepayers.nz/blog/2221090