Wellington ratepayers have shelled out out more than $550,000 on the upgrade of a 32m laneway to accommodate a new designer bike rack and two extra motorbike parks.
The Council has increased rates by almost 20%, and the Mayor is telling everyone there is no waste, and the big increases are all due to infrastructure underfunding and then we learn they spent half a million dollars on having a bike rack near the council office!
The total cost of the upgrade came to $562,942 with the cycle rack sucking up $136,000 of that – eclipsing the $85,000 spent on a similar bike rack alongside Freyberg Pool in Oriental Bay by $51,000.
So the bike rack only cost $136,000 but the total cost of upgrading the street to fit it was $563,000. Is that a must have or a nice to have?
Councillor Diane Calvert blasted the spend as an “unbelievable waste”.
“And especially when there is an empty bike rack 50m up the road outside council. This highlights yet again a troubling pattern of council spending decisions made without adequate oversight or insight into the real needs and concerns of our community.”
I bet you this bike rack also is near empty most of the time.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
4 comments:
How much more of this BS do Wellington ratepayers have to take? How about a concerted effort to encourage voters to exclude all candidates for the next WCC elections who run on a political ticket, i.e. Labour and Greens. The interests of ratepayers, not political ideologues, should be at the forefront of candidates' pitch for election. God give me strength.
I hate to say it, but wellington is reaping what it sews. I lived there for the best part of 30 years and I'm glad to have left. My remaining friends who still live there are looking at moving also.
I just can't believe that the voters are blind to this.....therefore you get what you reap, incompetence galore.
As always anonymous shiny pants types at Council offices who have no idea how much things should cost, and pass tenders at ludicrous prices that nobody in the real world would pay.
A hopeless situation especially in Wellington.
After a few days in the headlines, this issue will disappear until the next stupid example of Council spending comes to light, without any consequences for the irresponsible Council employees.
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