10 years ago in The GB Weekly
Issues of interest in The GB Weekly during October 1999 included “squabbling” amongst community board members, attacks on members of the public by the Lake Killarney swans, the development of the Village Green and the retention of x-ray services in the Bay.
The community board was warned that it was under close scrutiny. “The board is the ownly representative body and people have a right to be fairly represented. Squabbling between elected representatives detracts from that,” said a speaker at the public forum.
Meanwhile, Tasman District councillors were quoted as saying that value of the retention of community boards was “up in the air at present.”
The Lake Killarney swans generated many letters to the editor. People who wanted to use the lake for a range of recreational purposes felt threatened by the swans, and it was suggested they be found a new home.
The Village Green project was nearing completion. A specially formed society had raised $120,000 to buy the land, despite the objections and disagreements of some community members. One correspondent said: “The community board said ‘no’ to the purchase of this land, but they are going to have it given to them anyway, at a cost, and the cost will go on forever in upkeep, etc, at the ratepayers’ expense. Money that I believe could be put to better use. It amazes … me that the Village Green Society presume that everybody in the Bay supports their purchase of this land and for the purpose they want to use it, which isn’t the case at all. We will watch with interest what goes on there in the future.” The Village Green Society said that they expected the project to be completed by mid-2000.
The x-ray unit that had been at the medical centre since the mid-1980s was to be closed because it was running at a loss. The next week The GB Weekly reported that the doctors and management committee of the centre were working towards developing a trust or other group to re-open and run the unit.
