Cold water should have been poured on the vague proposal grandiosely called “Project Wai” and council should not have agreed to offer support “in principle”.
It seems these days anyone can walk in with some cooked-up idea (viz Grey St) and somehow sweet-talk council into providing staff time and assistance.
This happens without any public input at all, and seemingly without a thorough examination and fully informed debate before council weakly signs approval.
I object to staff being involved and ratepayer money being wasted in such careless fashion.
I note that the proposers of Project Wai do not appear to have revealed who their project is aimed at; after all, public water supply is a local body matter - private water supply for other than health purposes is another matter entirely.
A lot of money has already been spent investigating irrigation for horticulture (I refer to the work looking at whether the Flats’ aquifers could be boosted by Waipaoa River water). That project seems to have been abandoned - and in any case, supplying water for horticulture or other commercial use is a business matter in which user pays - not the residential ratepayer.
I would want far more detail - and indeed to see the proposers in person, not by Zoom - before indicating any form of backing.
I am glad councillor Gregory voiced some misgivings. It is a pity other councillors did not see any fishhooks and say “hang on a minute, mate!”
The council should stick to the straight and narrow of fundamental business - there is a pile of important matters to attend to as it is.
Support “in principle”, whatever that means, is not needed - if the idea is sound it would secure backing on its own merits.
Roger Handford
3 comments
Why do so many people feel threatened by an idea whose time has come?
We have a choice. Either we procrastinate and wait until our fate will be sealed because of our timidity to take our potentially disastrous situation by the throat and make the necessary changes, or we get behind the vision of what we might become - a utopia that we have until recently only dreamed about.
The proposers you refer to (of which I am one) are only trying to engage with people who want to be part of something that will benefit us all.
We are prepared to put our own efforts behind this project simply because the region has spent too much time talking and not enough looking at what needs to be done in order to make it happen.
We are grateful that Council has shown enough common sense by allowing us to complete the feasibility study.
We are mindful of a couple of the limiting factors you rightly refer to and will be focused on those potential obstacles when we talk to those who have the ability to fund the project without any rates rise or increase in Council debt.
I live in one of the lowest decile communities in the country and am proud of what we have been able to achieve in spite of our lack of discretionary money.
We are already developing pathways that will require all the development finance to come from either Central Government, business users and/or development partners.
I am confident that we will deliver a project designed to accommodate all of your genuine concerns.
I’m personally staking my reputation on it becoming reality.
I would like to think that you and others who have misgivings will wait until we deliver the results of our investigations before rushing to judgement on whether or not it will lead us to the promised land.
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