Letter to the Times

Time for referendum

I REFER to correspondence on stage two of the Pacific Events Centre and Noel Robinson’s appeal we look after future generations by approving this venture.

Mr Robinson may be in a position to give money to this but there are many people around Manukau who cannot afford $394.

Frankly, the city council has no mandate to invest in private enterprise and I’m surprised this is still being discussed.

We were bullied into the Pacific Events Centre by Messrs Curtis and Robinson despite feedback from the community being against it.

I would suggest a voting slip be included with the next rates notice asking ratepayers to vote on stage two.

Ratepayers could then return it with their payment and the votes be counted, so the council gets a mandate.

Would the mayor go ahead on this basis and according to the ratepayers’ votes – and would Mr Robinson be willing to accept this?

Don Barker, Howick

Who's Counting

This letter first appeared in local Manukau papers this week.

WHILE attending a public meeting I was approached by a local businessman who congratulated me on my stand against the white-water rafting proposal being promoted by the trust that operates the Pacific Events Centre.

Amazingly, he told me members of the trust had shown him the business plan.
Amazingly, I say, because councillors who are being asked to make a decision on the trust’s request for $40 million have never sighted a business plan. All councillors have been told is the proposal is viable.

Remember the former mayor’s famous words when speaking of the Pacific Events Centre, “this won’t cost the rate payer a penny”.

So far it’s cost $52 million but then again who’s counting?

Sex and the city

Volunteers are joining forces to tackle the antisocial behaviour of street sex workers – and they’re taking the fight right to the punters’ letterboxes.

They’re sending "clients" little pink letters in the post in the hope their spouses will realise their partners are kerb-crawling.

The 15 members of the Papatoetoe Community Patrol say the condoms and human waste left behind by prostitutes and punters at Hunters Corner were bad enough.

But schoolchildren being propositioned by men looking for sex was the final straw.

Hard Questions

I spent an hour or so with Edward Rooney of the "Aucklander" at Xtreme Entertainment in Botany discussing, Manukau City Council, crime, police, Len Brown, sport, John Walker and sending down a few bowls.

Media beat up Mayor's leave request

Mayor Len Brown in a written request to Council asked for a leave of absence for two months to allow him time to recover from his heart attack. Councillor David Collings (Pakuranga) without consulting anyone and presuming to know more about the mayor’s health status than the mayor himself proposed a six month leave of absence. The Council unanimously agreed to this but one wonders why Cr Collings would choose to second guess the Mayor Brown who presumably made the request in the hope of being back in two months. If at the end of that period he himself felt that he required more time undoubtedly it will be given.

Cr Collings comment that the whole Council “were kind of shocked” and “their bottom lip dropped” is way off the mark. Had I not wanted Len to have six month leave of absence I could have moved an amendment or voted against the six month period. I did neither.

Incidentally, there is no bad blood between John Walker and I. We have been friends for 35 years and in that time including many weeks on tour travelling together and sharing hotel rooms there has hardly ever been a cross word that has passed between us.

PEC Seeks Ruling Over Land

"POTENTIALLY tens of thousands of dollars of ratepayers’ money will be spent on legal action aimed at clarifying a difference of opinion between the Counties Manukau Pacific Trust and Manukau City Council.
The legal matter concentrates on a sensitive ‘umbrella agreement’ between the organisations and highly valuable commercial land transactions.
An upcoming Auckland High Court case will attempt to determine which of the two parties is entitled to money that’ll be generated from any potential sale of land, zoned business 5, adjoining TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre at Manukau central."

Len Brown suffers setback

Manukau mayor Len Brown has suffered a setback in his recovery from heart surgery in Auckland Hospital and is now in a critical condition in Intensive Care.

Acting Manukau Mayor Gary Troup says Mr Brown had been making good progress but this turn for the worse is concerning.

“Len has undergone further surgery and is being closely monitored in intensive care. I have been in contact with his family and have offered the council’s full support,” Mr Troup says.

Media Release: Level of Violence Shocks

Manukau City Council Portfolio Leader for Community Safety, Dick Quax is urging members of the public to help the police in their hunt for those who robbed and gunned down the owner of the Riverton Liquor shop in Manurewa.

The owner, Mr Navtej Singh dies in Middlemore Hospital after being gunned down in his store.

“I am shocked and saddened by the degree of violence in our community. Mr Singh complied with all the demands of the gunman which is what the police advise when people are confronted in these dangerous situations”.

Cr Quax says that there has been a dangerous escalation in violence and the fact that thugs are prepared to use of guns to obtain a small amount of money and some alcohol is particularly disturbing.

“I am also concerned that there has been ongoing anti social behaviour in this area. The shops are tagged from the ground to the roof. The entire area looks like something out of South Central Los Angeles. Houses, power poles, fences, trees, the children’s playground, the skateboard park, the Post Office letter box and the public telephone boxes have all been vandalised’’.

“I have asked the Manukau Beautification Trust to get rid if the tagging in the area which will go some way towards regaining some community pride in the area”.

End

Speed will kill our children

Some three years have passed since I asked Manukau City Council officers for a report on imposing a limited speed zone around schools in our city. Despite repeatedly asking for the report there is still no sign of it.

Manukau is a city which has a high proportion of young people – some 40% are under twenty years of age – and many attend low decile schools. Research out of the UK shows that children attending low decile schools are at a greater risk of being struck by a car while going to and from school.

Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton and Waitakere are four cities that I am aware of that have imposed limited speed restrictions around their schools in this country and school speed zones are set in many other countries.

It’s time Manukau showed it cares about its kids.

The Aucklander News: Speed will kill our children

Daniel Newman: Community not having a bar of it

Councillor Daniel Newman (Manurewa) responds to Cr Colleen Brown’s (Manurewa) criticism of the “boobs bar” in Manurewa.

Daniel Newman: Community not having a bar of it - 21 May 2008 - Opinion, Editorial - nzherald

'Local hero' judge puts wind up taggers

A judge who jailed a Hastings tagger for 28 days has been called a "local hero" who has other graffiti vandals running scared.

We need a judge here in Manukau like Tony Adeane who sentenced an eighteen year old tagger to time in the slammer. It’s about time that other judges realized that our communities are fed up with people who vandalise property. And it’s also time that so called “leaders”, Pita Sharples and Cindy Kiro got their heads out of the sand and realized that tagging is not art, is not an acceptable form of alternative expression but a criminal act and should be treated as such.

If we had a system such as the US we just might get judges such as Judge Adeane who are in touch with their communities. Good on him!

'Local hero' judge puts wind up taggers - Hawke's Bay - The Dominion Post

Manukau Not Listening

“People are calling but the Manukau City Council has taken the phone off the hook”.

This is how Pakuranga councillor Dick Quax describes the Council attitude towards its rejection of a volumetric component to its unpopular fixed wastewater charges.

The Policy and Activities Meeting recommended charging a fixed rate for wastewater at its meeting.

“We considered over 400 submissions on wastewater most them in support of a user pays pricing which was also supported by Manukau Water Ltd. In addition to that there was an online petition circulated by People’s Choice last year which collected nearly 2,000 signatures supporting some form of user pays for wastewater”.

Cr Quax points out that a fixed charge for wastewater is unfair and penalises small users of water such as the elderly and people living on their own.

“Here in Pakuranga there are many elderly people on fixed incomes who are being charged three or four times the water they bring into their homes to get rid of it – where is the fairness in that.”

“There is no fairness in a pricing regime which forces low users of water to subsidise high users”.

I am particularly disappointed that the mayor, Len Brown and Pakuranga councillor David Collings supported the fixed price regime.”

Double standards sinks attempt to extend kerbside recycling service

Despite calling for community organisations such as sports clubs, churches, pre-schools and marae to be included in the new recycling services in 2008-09, only the 21 marae in Manukau City will enjoy the benefits of a service subsidised from general rates.

The decision to include marae but exclude sports clubs, churches and pre-schools has angered Manukau City Councillor Daniel Newman, who moved a resolution to extend the service to all community organisations.

“I am a strong proponent of recycling. I am a very enthusiastic recycler and believe the Manukau City Council should extend the new recycling service right throughout our community. Yet when it comes down to making a tough decision on this matter, the Council opted for a very limited extension of the recycling service.

“Tens of thousands of residents across Manukau City would have benefited from the extension of a recycling service to community organisations. Yet by voting down my motion to extend that service to all community groups, the Council has declined an opportunity to get serious about recycling and reducing the amount of material discarded in our landfill.

“The Council has once again passed over an opportunity to demonstrate real leadership and consistent treatment for the benefit of all residents and organisations in Manukau City,” Daniel Newman said.

At today’s Policy and Activities Committee meeting, Daniel Newman moved the following motion:

“That the 21 marae situated in Manukau City and community organisations such as sports clubs, churches and pre-schools be included in the new recycling services within the next financial year and subsidised from general rates”

That motion was defeated by 7 votes to 5.

Those councillors who voted for the Newman resolution to extend the recycling services to all community organisations were: Daniel Newman; Dick Quax; Jami-Lee Ross; Sylvia Taylor; and Sharon Stewart.

Those councillors who voted against the Newman resolution to extend recycling services to all community organisations were: Colleen Brown; Maggie Burrill; Len Brown; David Collings; Arthur Anae; Hugh Graham; and John Walker.

End.


Contact:

Daniel Newman 027 478 1484

Topless bar hides bottomless pit

Manukau Councillor Colleen Brown is not happy that a topless bar is in her local shopping centre. Read her Op Ed article from today's NZ Herald. Is she right?

Colleen Brown: Topless bar hides bottomless pit - 15 May 2008 - Opinion, Editorial and reader comments from New Zealand and around the World - nzherald

Council forms Working Party to move Furniture

If anyone should question the need for improved governance of the Auckland region one needs look no further than the Manukau City Council. Last month the Council’s Policy and Activities Committee chaired by Manurewa councillor, Colleen Brown, on the recommendation of Cr David Collings (Pakuranga) formed a working party to oversee the placement of furniture in council meeting rooms.

Councillors are elected by the people to govern, and see that policy they set is implemented by council staff.

One councillor was recently seen directing traffic on a busy city intersection. That’s carrying micro management a tad too far.

At the same P&A Committee I was rounded on by some councillors for questioning the tardy response of council to a request from residents, backed by the Transport Committee back in April 2007 to reduce the speed limit on a notorious stretch of road.

A year later the residents who live on this dangerous road are still waiting for council action.

This is truly a case of rearranging the deck chairs while the Titanic sinks.

Flogging or jail for bad driving

For Manukau and other New Zealand cities flogging could be the answer to the "boy racer" problem.

Flogging or jail for bad driving | The Australian

Sprawl link to fat tenuous

For some time now urban planners have been trying to convince people that the suburbs are bad for us. They claim that living in the "burbs" means that suburbanites are dependent on cars and don't get enough exercise and contributes to obesity. According to urban plannerslLiving in high density housing around transport nodes is better for our health.

Now a study has come out to put that far fetched theory to rest.

"There's a lot of talk about redesigning cities and the expectation that they will affect people's health and weight in particular, but what these results tell us is that those expectations are probably incorrect," said Professor Matthew Turner of the University of Toronto and a co-author of the study.

Moreover, data was released from the Flinders University Achieving a Healthy Home Environment study which surveyed the homes and lifestyles of 280 families in the southern suburbs of Adelaide and found that the size and set-up of homes contributed largely to how fit and healthy young children were. Larger section meant healthier kids.

Sprawl link to fat tenuous - 05 Apr 2008 - NZ Herald

Press Release

Pakuranga Councillor Dick Quax has been quick to jump to the defence of Manukau’s large immigrant population following the attack on the Asian community by New Zealand First deputy leader, Peter Brown.

“Manukau City is the melting pot of New Zealand. Forty one percent of all Manukau people were born overseas”.

According to Cr Quax that presents a huge and exciting challenge and opportunity for the city.

“A very large number of people from Asia have made their home here especially in the eastern part of Manukau. We are better of economically, socially and culturally as a result of the immigration from Asia”.

“People here still recall the racist speech New Zealand leader, Winston Peters made in Howick leading up to the 1996 election. We don’t want him back and he can take his hate mongering elsewhere”.

We are a tolerant and welcoming city said Cr Quax himself an immigrant who came to New Zealand as a youngster with his family in the 1950s.

Moves to stop Council flying sovereignty flag

Proposals to fly the Tino Rangatiratanga flag outside the Manukau City Council are being challenged by a group of councillors opposed to the move.
A group of nine councillors, representing half the membership of the Council, have lodged a Notice of Motion seeking a council decision to refuse the flying of the flag.

Scoop: Moves to stop Council flying sovereignty flag

Flag decision sent back for more consultation

A decision on whether Manukau City Council should officially fly the Tino Rangatiratanga flag has been delayed pending the development of a comprehensive report on a flag flying policy for the council.

The council’s Te Tiriti O Waitangi Committee last night considered whether to approve in principle the flying of the Tino Rangatira Flag for five days leading up to and including 6 February 2009 and annually thereafter.

However, committee chair Cr Alf Filipaina said that, after a very full discussion, members felt the decision could not be made without first investigating and approving a flag flying policy to cover all instances of when it might be appropriate for the council to fly any other flag alongside the New Zealand and the Manukau city flags. The committee resolved to request a report outlining issues and protocols for flying flags on Manukau City Council facilities be presented to its meeting on 12 June, 2008.

Cr Filipaina said the committee also acknowledged the special relationship that the council has with Tainui and Kingitanga and sought to investigate whether it would be appropriate to fly the Te Kahu flag for the day of Koroneihana in August 2008 and annually thereafter. It has asked officers to bring a report back on this issue to the committee by May, 2008.

“We have indicated to officers that we expect there to be comprehensive community consultation as part of developing these reports,” Cr Filipaina said.