David Hill: Local Government spending out of control

With the local body elections due in October this year we are once again seeing aspirational individuals coming forward to throw in their names for election of local councillors and Mayor.

All have a list of important issues that they are enthusiastic and compassionate about that they truly believe are the key issues facing ratepayers and individuals. However particularly over the last 10 to 20 years in New Zealand we have had councils that have been more and more influenced by left wing ideology and as Prime Minister Luxon alluded to “nice to have” projects rather than sticking to the basics of roading, water, rubbish collection and other core services.

Bob Edlin: The outdoor swimming issue in Whanganui....

Psst! A citizens’ assembly (behind secrecy masks) will dive into the outdoor swimming issue in Whanganui

In Porirua, the citizens’ assembly concept was translated into an exercise in co-governance.

In Whanganui, it has become an exercise which will be conducted in secrecy.

Dave Hill: Climate Crisis - What crisis?

Whanganui District Council has declared a "Climate Crisis". What exactly does this mean? Most people I asked had difficulty specifying this. The dictionary defines crisis as 'emergency; disaster; calamity'.

There is acknowledgement that councillors are attempting to highlight the effects climate change 'might' have on the population. Attention is drawn to the word 'might'. The majority of the increasingly alarmist predictions give prominence to the words 'might', 'could' and 'should'.