Letters 23 September
Ligar Bay baches
In last week’s GB Weekly I stated that all the Ligar Bay baches had changed hands since 1989. This wasn’t correct as only some of the baches have been sold on. The fact remains that all the licence holders either signed up to the current agreement or bought with the agreement in place.
Mik Symmons
Takaka Aikido
Takaka Aikido is running an 8-week introduction course beginning 29 September. There are limited places available for those interested in exploring the relationship between mind, body and spirit through the dynamic, physical practice of this Japanese martial art. Like many practices Aikido promotes health through balance, centre, breath, movement and discipline but differs from other traditional martial arts in its pursuit of harmony. The transformation of conflict into oneness that can be applied daily. Thursday evenings from 7pm. For details phone me on 525 8031.
Matthew Walker
Democratic outcomes
Wow! Jeff Allen (GBW 16/9) let his imagination soar by suggesting we could include Parliament into the suggestion for improved local government. We should be grateful he didn’t also include the monarchy.
Seriously, the suggestion I’ve made is about improving responsive “bottom-up” local governance.
School Boards of Trustees are positive examples of how the idea works in practice. A school community elects its board. The board elects its chairperson.
There are other local elections which can be improved on. At present, when we receive voting papers for the health board we have a long list of candidates from Marlborough and Nelson who we need to rank. This ranking is based primarily on the candidate’s own publicity.
Is this the best way of making an informed vote?
Wouldn’t we be better to have a ward system where we are more likely to know the candidates and be able to rank them as our representatives?
At least health boards do have single transferable voting and the elected board members elect/appoint their chairperson.
Suggestions I’ve made are about empowering communities. “Government of the people, for the people, by the people” is the true meaning of ‘Democracy’.
Joe Bell
Greater economic caution called for
Councillor candidate Laurence Boomert (GBW 16/9) is right on the mark when he calls for greater economic caution. Although I don’t see the TDC as being very secretive about the extent of our financial misery. Our debt load must be at around $180M.
We are amidst the greatest financial meltdown the world has ever seen. He also wants to help Golden Bay get prepared for that - again, he’s right on the mark here.
But the universal greed gets to him right away; he wants the multipurpose cultural and recreation centre built. Paid for by local government bonds.
You can put a tuxedo on a goat, as the saying goes, but it is still just a goat. In this case, garnishing the beast with some heartwarming attributes like “local” or even “community” doesn’t change a thing. “Local government bonds” are still debts. Ugly, irrepayable worthless pieces of paper, defrauding everybody who buys them of their savings.
While the class-5 hurricane of the current financial catastrophe hasn’t even made landfall on New Zealand’s coasts (but wait for it, it will), Laurence already wants to cause the next one. Hilarious!
But he is in good company. Isn’t one of the main arguments for an amalgamation of the two councils, that we will then have more borrowing power? [abridged]
Rainer Huebler
What is council representation?
There is serious, but understandable, misunderstanding of the responsibilities of councillors. It is natural to ask ourselves at election time: “We, the ward, elected them. What have they achieved for Golden Bay?”
This ignores the key fact that under the Local Government Act the oath of each councillor is to serve the district, not their electorate ward. Election by ward is to achieve a geographical spread of councillors. All their decisions are required to be based on what is best for the district as a whole. What is best for Golden Bay is what our community board is there for.
It follows that if something the GB Community Board asks council for is “over the top” in relation to other needs in the district, it is the duty of Golden Bay councillors to vote against it.
If that is not acceptable, consider the alternative of a councillor’s job being to serve the ward. Council meetings would be a constant fight between wards. The district needs would suffer and the smallest wards – such as Golden Bay - would lose all the time.
Peter Foster
Integrated family health centre
I thank the IMG for its reply last week, to my letter of 9 September. It stated that my figures are wrong, but regrettably did not supply the correct figures. Of the figures I used, the 8 per cent interest and 15 years’ payback period were widely quoted at the time of the public IMG meeting at the Takaka Primary School hall. The $4.3million is from the <www.gbhealth.org.nz> website.
The IMG did not address the main point, namely that paying the roughly $100,000 per year needed to keep the Joan Whiting Rest Home open would be substantially less costly than even the mortgage alone on the proposed $6.9million hospital extension. This conclusion applies over a wide range of plausible interest rates. The proposed cure is worse than the illness, Doctor.
The way to quell rumours and suspicion is to give the facts.
There is nothing commercially sensitive about these particular facts, and so no reason to withhold them. Would the IMG therefore please state what interest rate and payback period it is using in its plan for this $4.3million mortgage?
Andrew Yuill
Response from IMG: As our response noted, Joan Whiting is not financially viable. Simply paying top-up funding does not address the wider health service issues that Golden Bay faces. These are resolved through integration of services.
Ed. The GB Weekly has closed the correspondence on the integrated family health centre for the meantime.
Special film screening
On Monday 26 September @ 7.30pm at The Village Theatre there will be a special screening of the film We Are The People We’ve Been Waiting For. A landmark independent documentary, inspired and guided by Lord Puttnam and Sir Michael Barber, exploring education and the future of learning. I think it is an excellent film and a must see for anyone who is interested or involved in education. Entry is by donation with free entry for students. For a more detailed description of the film visit - http://kahurangischool.co.nz/film-screening/
Pew Singh
Friends of the Cobb
Friends of the Cobb was established in 2006 with the aim of helping to protect and enhance the native wildlife, especially the birds, of the Cobb and upper Takaka Valleys. Most of our work is involved with trapping stoats and rats, but we also monitor numbers of rats and recently possums. Last summer we twice had more than 20 people scattered up the Cobb Valley listening for kiwi calls, an exercise that revealed we now have about five pairs of kiwi and a few odd birds where there were none twenty years ago. We try to get up to the Cobb monthly through the summer usually for one or two nights staying at the Cobb Cottages ( and thanks to the Community Workers appreciating what we do, our accommodation is free). Day trips are also possible.
We welcome new volunteers so if you are interested, reasonably fit, like the outdoors and have a bit of spare time please get in touch. You could come to our AGM at the Mussel on 27 September at 12.30, or email me at cpetyt@xtra.co.nz or ring 5258154.
Thank you,
Chris Petyt
Golden Bay Boys’ and Girls’ Agricultural show
Golden Bay Boys’ and Girls’ Agricultural show is coming up next month, on 29 October so start getting your entries ready for this fun day.
Free entry again this year, keep an eye out for the schedules, they will be available from your school or Ray White office in Takaka early October.
What we would really like is lots more helpers on the day to free us up to watch our own kids participate, so if you are interested in helping or holding a stall or if you have entertainment ideas please phone one of the committee, Jill Pearson 027 384 8165, Clarissa Gray 525 6269, Andrea Ward 525 9388 and Stacey Ward 027 496 5620.
Also any trophy or cup holders from last year could you please clean and return to your school office by October.
GB Boys’ and Girls’ Agricultural Show committee
