Its All About Withdrawal of Service

Marie from Waikanae

Since May of this year, we have noticed that all attempts at community representation have been denied, or ignored. Feedback to the long term plan was ignored, the petition to retain the Waikanae recycling centre was ignored, and numerous attempts to serve a notice of motion at council have been rejected. We lost our recycling facility in Waikanae, and now we are about to lose our community boards and the Waikanae ward.
Now according to the Local Government Act, (2002) there are some fairly stringent requirements which must be observed in relation to any withdrawal of service. In accordance with section 93E of the act, it should give the details of the proposed decision, the reasons for this decision, an analysis of options and any potential conflict of interest which may arise. Clearly, these comprehensive requirements were not met. We were given the most implausible reasons for the loss of the recycling centre. Briefings on the proposed loss of community boards etc were held in secret. Why the haste and lack of transparency, I wonder?
Several possibilities arise here. First off is the $5 million shortfall in the Gateway project. In their haste to grab some free government money council appears to have overlooked that they have to find another 5 million of ratepayers money. Imagine the embarrassment of the Chief Executive if the council ends up insolvent? They are desperate to cut spending anywhere they can. If this means doing away with democratic representation, then so be it. It raises the possibility of more cuts in service to come. Something we should watch for.
Second on my list is the corporate expansion this council is undertaking. How many people are aware, I wonder, that, in addition to their flash new offices in Ivor Trask Place, they have also taken over the entire top floor of the new Takiri building in Rimu Rd. That's a big rent bill. What are these people doing in their flash new Takiri Offices? We will probably never know. Certainly there does not appear to be any significant community project being undertaken, quite the reverse. Other observations have reinforced my view that this is a very inward looking council. They spend an inordinate amount of time on minutiae, dealing with their own internal processes and their status. In recent months they have lost the confidence of their electorate. There appears to be little concern given to the welfare of Kapiti residents. They will not step up regarding the housing crisis, the food bank is still struggling to find a place to operate and Waikanae is still making do with a makeshift library. This lack of concern could be a fatal mistake. First rule of local government is that one should always take the community with you in any initiative. Anyone got any other interesting theories about why the council is behaving so badly?