puff: puff 517 Wheeler's Corner

Wheeler’s CornerÓ

Connecting Citizens Who Care

"Broadcast every Thursday at 11.45am on Access 999AM" Contact Peter at wheeler@inspire.net.nz

15 19th April 2007

This Week: 1. A New approach: 2. Running for Council: 3. Community: 4. Local: 5. National: 6. International: 7. My God:

1. Wheeler’s Corner has been going for four years. While covering local body activities here in Palmerston North it has attempted to bring a breath of fresh air and transparency to the local government scene. Some of course considered it too frank and took exception to its reporting style and even attempted to get it closed down. It prevailed and has grown beyond my expectations. Wheeler’s Corner will continue but its format will change and it will now cover Four Corners rather than one. Community, Local, National and International are the Four Corners. Wheeler’s corner needs and wants your input. It is true that what happens in communities brings change to the local scene and the local scene can and does effect the National scene and what is done nationally sends a message Internationally. So I hope you will stick with ‘Wheeler’s [Four] Corner [s] in the future as you have done in the past. The main emphasis will still be community and local matters, the starting point for all things

2. Community: The various communities that make up the Awapuni Ward get a chance to elect new councillors in October/November of this year. At this stage I intend to stand in the Awapuni Ward. Representing a Ward is not a solo effort and it is only through community support that success can be achieved. So I am seeking assistance in tackling this goal. Put simply I need your help, your knowledge, your experience. If successful the same people will play a huge role in deciding my position in council on the key issues of the day. If you feel you would like to help please get in touch by ringing me on 359-2030 or emailing me at wheeler@inspire.net.nz and I’ll love you to accept an offer of a cup of coffee at which we can discuss the formation of mutual assistance for the upcoming election. You don’t have to live in the Ward to assist.

3. Local: The City Council has once again failed in its fundamental duty to consult with its citizens. It’s handling of the sale of the land on the corner of Fitzherbert Ave and Park Road is simply appalling. Firstly it included the money from the sale in this years budget, and it told the public that if it wasn’t sold rates would have to rise even higher than the present rate of over eight percent [which is over double the rate of inflation]. It said all this when it hasn’t even got the right to sell the land because of its reserve status. Later it created the impression that the money gained from the sale [should it even be permitted] would be used for improvements to the Esplanade. But according to it’s own ten-year plan money has already been allocated for that purpose. It would seem that council also is forcing rate charges up for those in low value properties simply because of the increasing of the rates rebate scheme put in place by the Government. What this means is that any gains made by those on low or fixed incomes [Over 55% of Palmerston North Citizens] will quickly be used up by a greedy council. Yet it continues to fork out huge salaries such as three hundred thousand dollars for a CEO. Things are just not going right for the council: It is in court over its Elmira Ave stuff up, its Milson Line closure is still to be settled and its wind farm plans are being questioned in court. The tight eight plans for citywide voting and the number of councillors was ripped apart by the local government commission. Cr. Gordon Cruden from Hokowhitu is facing possible Code of Conduct charges. When coupled with the ignorant handling of the Dittmer Drive episode and the loss of a petition from the people of Hokowhitu one could be forgiven for thinking that the council is off the rails. But the citizens of Buick Crescent have at last got their path to the park back. It was stuffed up just a few months after the arrival of Paul Wylie. And it was at last fixed a few weeks after his welcomed departure thanks to the unrelenting pressure of John Bos and the Awapuni Ward Committee, well done Pat Hickson, Annette Nixon, Meredith McKenzie, John Bos and now Shona Jarmin. It’s not hard to see why the tight eight don’t like Ward Committees.

NOTES OF THE PUBLIC MEETING HELD IN THE AWAPUNI COMMUNITY CENTRE 27 March 2007

The Awapuni Ward Committee hosted a public meeting chaired by Councillor Peter Claridge. There were 45 residents in attendance. The purpose of the Public Meeting was:

Election of a ward committee member for nomination to the Council for appointment; and

Discussion of the future status of the land on the corner of Fitzherbert Avenue and Park Road, Palmerston North.

In relation to item (i) above, two ward residents were nominated for the extraordinary vacancy, and following an election process Councillor Claridge announced that the successful nominee was Mrs Shona Jarmin. He also advised that Council would make the final decision relating to the appointment on Monday 16 April 2007.

In relation to item (ii) above, members of the public present made the following comments:

Concern was expressed as to what the land could be used for if it was sold. Council Officers advised that as yet there had been no indication by anyone that they were interested in purchasing the land, nor had Council sought any registration of interest.

The public requested input into what the money would be used for, in the instance that the land was sold.

There had been no negotiation or discussion regarding this, and there was no detail in the 10-Year Plan relating to this issue.

There was no need to remove the reserve status on all of the land – just the portion that the Council wanted to sell.

If the corner block of land was sold then this would create confusion in terms of traffic.

The Tennis Club’s services all came from Park Road – how would this be affected?

The Tennis Club had previously approached Council to query whether they could extend the Tennis Club’s courts when the land became available (once they became aware that the Bowling Club was moving) so they could extend their court area to attract national competitions. The Council was not interested at that time.

The Petanque Club had occupied the area for 10 years and their preferred option was to remain on that site. If that was not possible, then the Petanque Club would require financial assistance with relocation costs. As well as the Petanque Club, there were five other groups using the facilities, which occupied over 100 people per week.

Council needed to look ahead for future generations, and keep the valuable areas and reserves throughout the City.

The land could be used for a rest area for those people walking up Fitzherbert Avenue towards the Esplanade, and it was seen as a good spot for the elderly and parents with young children to have a break - make it into an area that was unique for Palmerston North.

The Judo Club indicated interest in sharing the clubrooms with any other potential users.

Officers advised that the building on the site was in disrepair, and conservative estimates had indicated it would cost at least $300,000 to bring the building up to basic compliance/consent levels.

It was queried as to what Council intended to do with the money it would receive for the sale of the land. In response, the public were advised by Officers that reserve land money would be used for reserve purposes, and that in the 10-Year Plan it stated that the money would be used towards the Esplanade and Aviary.

Council acts for the people, and concern was expressed that someone had made the decision to sell the land and didn’t bother to see the Tennis Club or other stakeholders before moving ahead with this idea.

This was prime real estate and $3M was sacrilege – it was questioned whether the land was being sold to off-set the cost of The Square? For $3M, or even $4M or $5M for that prime piece of real-estate the member of the public would have preferred to see one of the sporting organisations use it.

Concern was expressed that there had no been widespread discussion on this matter. When the Awapuni Ward Committee had requested a public meeting, they had envisaged a public meeting that would involve the whole City.

Further concern was expressed with the lack of consultation, and that this was tucked away as a ‘one-liner’ in a large book (the 10-Year Plan). Was this consultation? Had anyone discussed with the young people of the City what they wanted, as they were the future generation?

The reason that the land was reserve land was that our forefathers decided it was important enough to reserve for future generations.

It was incumbent upon Councillors to look at all aspects of city management, including things that could be sold in order to achieve all of the other wants and needs of the City. The opinion of the member of the public was that the corner was in diabolical order for traffic, so if the Council could sell it, then so good.

Several speakers did not want to see a repeat of the Railway land sale - open green space now unavailable for public use

In Wellington, the Mt Victoria Bowling Club land was redeveloped as a community development communal garden project – an example of use for this site, also potential of site for use as a "Men's Shed" project providing recreational and / or vocational training opportunities.

Defer lifting Reserve status and selling / redeveloping land until all decisions relating to the Esplanade are determined.

There was an informal vote called of those members of the public present (by show of hands) and the unanimous opinion (with a few abstentions) was that the land should not be sold.

Councillor Claridge called the public meeting to a close, and invited the public to put in a submission to the Draft Annual Plan process. Meeting closed at 8.43pm

4. National: Going back to the future is clearly evident in the National Party push for a measurement system across all our primary schools. Reading, writing and arithmetic are the big failure areas in our schools today they say. This claim has a historic ring about it, they said the same thing when I was a kid attending Upper Hutt School in the mid-forties, and it was even said when my parents were kids. Politicians have been pulling this bunny out of their hats every election since God-knows-when. Like crime and the treatment of those that are caught and convicted ‘put them away forever, throw away the key, NZ has the second highest rate of population in prison, only the USA beats us. The prison industry is becoming one of the biggest industries in NZ. The largest ethnic group in our prisons is Maori and Islanders as is found in every ex-colonialist country in the world. Indigenous peoples all around the world are proportionally higher occupiers of prisons than other ethnic groupings. So lets not be drawn into the old boogey that if kids can read and write to a specific level our youth problems will suddenly disappear. Or that if we locked up all the crook’s crime will disappear. Just imagine NZ with half its Land Agents, thousands of lawyers and accountants and ex-members of Parliament and a hundred or so councillors along with a few Doctors, Priests, Born Again Ministers plus heaps of others locked away, business would come to a stand still [only kidding, I think]. The short answer has been known for many years and that is ‘fix the social problems’ and you can reduce the crime problems to a manageable level. So long as Labour and National continue to pamper those with money and ignore those without nothing will change.

5. International: This story is beautiful follow on from the report above: On Friday morning, Paul Wolfowitz -- President Bush's key architect of the Iraq war, now president of the World Bank and self-styled fighter of corruption -- was caught red-handed in a corruption scandal of his own. He pushed a huge pay raise for his girlfriend, and hid the facts from his organization and the world. He's got to go. When Paul Wolfowitz was a top official in President Bush's Department of Defense, he was one of the Iraq war's biggest backers. When the war became a fiasco, instead of firing Wolfowitz, Bush gave him a promotion--to president of the World Bank. At the Bank, he vowed to make corruption his top issue--but alienated the world by delaying aid packages to India, Kenya, and other countries without consulting the bank's Executive Board. Now we've learned that he didn't practice what he preached. Wolfowitz's girlfriend was a senior World Bank employee. When he became president, the Bank's ethics rules would not allow him to keep her on staff under his supervision. So he gave her a massive rise in salary and moved her side ways…The World Bank's board, made up of our governments from around the world, is now deciding whether Wolfowitz should keep his job. An immediate, massive, and global outcry could make the difference. Our petition is three words long: "Sack Paul Wolfowitz." Click here now to sign the petition, http://www.avaaz.org/en/sack_wolfowitz/

6. My God says: So there you go, there is the first of the Four Corners edition of Wheeler’s Corner, I hope you enjoyed it and don’t forget feedback would be greatly valued. She, my God that is, was absolutely stunned by the killings in the US where gun laws simply don’t exist…

Peter J Wheeler

Wheeler@inspire.net.nz

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