Why do councils even pretend to care about your views, to pretend that consultation counts, when in most cases, the establishment thumbs its nose at the public will, to protect its nest and cess pit of waste.
Exhibit A – Christchurch. A massive public consultation campaign triggered thousands of submissions pleading with the council to adopt a zero rates increase, to help ratepayers get through the Covid crisis. That’s just not possible, was their response.
Despite its war-chest of commercial assets, producing piss poor dividend flows, the council considers partial-asset sales to correct its balance sheet as bordering on the satanic. An evil no-go zone.
So businesses and residents will be slugged with another lazy rates increase, to fund their parade of pet projects. In the past six years alone, my rates bill has shot up 52%.
The Christchurch Council seems to reside in a parallel universe. They won’t cut staff numbers this year. They won’t even follow the private sector and temporarily reduce remuneration levels for the hundreds of staff earning six figure salaries.
There’s no sense of shared sacrifice.
Exhibit B – Auckland Council. Risibly, their consultation on the annual plan, the emergency budget, prompted a massive public mandate to cap rates increases at 2 point 5 per cent. That’s what two-thirds of the submitters plumped for. One in four wanted a rates freeze. Just twenty eight per cent backed the council’s preferred option of a three point five per cent rates rise.
The Phil Goff-led council has spurned the overwhelming public feedback, boxing on with the heftier rates hike. The overall 3 point 5 per cent hike will see average household rates increasing 4.4 per cent, with water charges also expected to rise.
The arrogance, the defiance, the ‘we know best” bloody-mindedness makes me sick. Stand by for more over-specked slow roads and gold-plated cycle lanes. We have our projects to deliver, and by god we will, seems to be the mentality.
And councils around the land still wonder why most of us don’t bother voting in local body elections, let alone bothering ourselves around with their pointless, farcical, consultations. Wonder no more.