News

The Single Transferrable Voting system (STV) the NPDC uses for Local Elections comes up for review every 3 years, and has started being discussed by New Plymouth Community Boards. The Mayor and Councillors will vote in the coming weeks about keeping STV, or considering a different option.

Click on the blue heading above to find out about our poll.

The families affected by the new Massive Cellphone Towers recently attended a local Property Investors meeting, which featured several politicians at the event. A question was asked of the politicians:

“What their party would do about this problem occurring all over the country, where massive cellphone towers are being placed on berms right outside people’s homes, and the law does not allow anyone to do anything about the placement of these towers.”

Click on the blue heading above to find out more about this meeting and the affected families.

We were sent a copy of a speech by Michael Laws with a number of statements we can relate to with how Local Government is operating, and some changes suggested.

Click on the blue heading above to read Micheal's speech.

Before you say to yourself what’s the point of consulting, please consider the following:

• The Long Term Plan is the document which gives the NPDC PERMISSION to spend YOUR money.
• The Long Term Plan is how YOU TELL the NPDC that they MUST bring your rates down and you DO NOT give them permission to keep putting your rates up.
• The current open consultation includes boxes where you can type what you want to say (the Alliance has worked hard to get these open text boxes included).
• There is also an issue which will make your rates even worse next year – IF the NPDC DO NOT get their costs under control NOW.
• Please, you have to get involved with the 2027 Long Term Plan process to make it different this time.

Click on the blue heading above to find out how to copy and paste comments you many like to make to the NPDC, and to read about issues which will make your rates bill even worse next year, if you don't act now.

We have been approached by a new society in Taranaki, where one of their first actions is attempting to get a court injunction to halt the sale of the TSB Bank.

They are the Taranaki Community Accountability Society with
• Elaine Gill, a former TSB Bank Chair, is their Secretary, and
• Kevin Landrigan, a Chartered Accountant & Fellow of the Australian Society of Chartered Accountants, is their Treasurer.

Click on the blue heading above to find out why they are doing this and how you can help.

An update on the Toi Foundation Trustees. The term of the Chairman and one other trustee has expired and can't be renewed, yet they have been involved with the sale process with the bank.

Click on the link above to read a local news story about this.

This covers:
What does the term Te Tiriti mean ?
The legislation in the RMA states what kaitiakitanga is.
United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People document (UNDRIP).
The full MAWR wording in the Resource Management Act.
The full agenda for Te Tiriti Outcomes Workshop.
The 2 contracts the NPDC and TRC were presented with by 2 Iwi groups.

Click on the blue heading above to read more.

News Update – Government announces Monday 20th July - Mana Whakahono ā Rohe (MWAR) contracts between councils and local iwi will be scrapped.

Click on the blue heading above to hear Chris Bishop's announcement

Do you support Co-Governance of the Taranaki region ? Co-Governance of rivers, lakes, streams, forests, coastline, resource consenting, including arrangements relating to functions, duties or enforcement under the Resource Management Act ?

Do you support multi million dollar payments from Ratepayers for Iwi and Hapu to participate in Co-Governance of the Taranaki Region ?

• If you don’t, you have a short time to write to your Mayor, Councillors and MP’s to ask them to carefully consider what is written in to the contracts being created, and to tell them to take the full 18 months available, to fully assess the costs and community impacts of these contracts, and to assess what is required by law, and what additional options are being added.

• Voting to approve, or delay, a Central North Island Co-Governance contract will take place at the NPDC within the next few weeks.

Click on the blue heading above to find our more, and what you can do.

Following on from our first story asking the question about whether the Toi Foundation and the Trustees are the best fit for the Taranaki Region, we have been sent information which includes a break down of conflicts of interests with some Trustees.

The report we were sent was prepared using TOI Foundation data. This has been compiled by a Taranaki Research Group from official Toi Foundation grant data, financial statements, and public records.

Click on the blue heading above to find out more.

• There are tick boxes where you can say I do not want this activity
• There are free flow boxes where you can type what you actually want to say about activities.
• “For our supporters who DO NOT want rates increases and gold plated projects – this document is your chance to send that message LOUD and CLEAR to the NPDC”. One of the managers in our quarterly meetings at the NPDC made this comment to us.
• If you want the NPDC team to do things differently in this LTP you have to make sure you participate in this survey – or the council will deliver what they usually do.
• Please make sure you have your say.

Please share this with everyone you know who is concerned about rates increases and debt in New Plymouth.

Click on the blue heading above to find out more.

Some of our team were talking with the Water Company team today and the Permanent CEO position has been accepted by Brent Manning.

Click on the blue heading above to read more.

The New Plymouth Ratepayers Alliance is running a poll to see what the community thinks about the Toi Foundation approach.

Click on the blue heading above for the link to the poll.

The community has been asking, and so have we, about what is happening with the Interim CEO position at the Water Company.

Click on the blue heading above to find out more.

Some of our team had a very long day – around 4 hours – listening to general agenda discussions before getting to the Water Company Statement Of Expectations (SOE) debate.

We explain what we have managed to achieve for ratepayers, renters and water company customers with a new SOE clause, which actually is a big deal in a good way for the community, but we will also tell you how Councillors voted on a co-governance decision for the Water Company.

Click on the blue heading above to read more.

The Public Engagement Committee, where anyone from the public can talk directly to the people who vote on decisions at the Council, gives an opportunity for things to be put right.

This is an example of putting something right.

Click on the blue heading above to read more.

Important reminder - feedback for the compulsory Amalgamation of our Taranaki Councils closes Sunday 28th June.

There are tick boxes to rank what is important to you.

Click on the blue heading above to find out more.

It seems that finding the documents to give feedback to the Board is not very easy, especially if you don’t have access to the internet. A lot of our older residents in New Plymouth, who bank with the TSB, do not have access to the internet.

We asked for hard copies of the Feedback Forms to be available in TSB branches.

The TOI Foundation's reply was not helpful for our older residents with no access to the internet.

Click on the blue heading above to see what happened, and how you can help our older residents give feedback to the TOI Foundation.

The TOI Foundation Board of Trustees told the audience on 17th June the only way they can accept any feedback about the TSB Bank merger is by sending a submission.

This is not as straight forward as it could be, so we have explained how to do that. And we've also explained how people without internet access can do a submission.

A number of older people in New Plymouth have money in the TSB Bank, but do not use the internet. If you know people in this situation, please help them to use a hard copy form to do a submission. A copy of the form, and where to send it, is attached

Click on the blue heading above to find out more about the TSB Bank merger and to send a submission.

There will be surveys happening over the next month or so to tell the NPDC what is important to you with the amalgamation of the 4 Taranaki Councils.

Central Government, as part of the new Resource Management Act requires all Councils in NZ to amalgamate with other Councils in their region. Local Councils do not have a choice.

If you don’t tell the NPDC what’s important they will put forward what they think is best, as they will have no choice if the community doesn’t participate.

Making sure Taranaki retains its local voice is a criteria that can be considered as important when Local Council Plans are assessed by Central Government. Make sure you have your say about what is important with YOUR local voice.

Click on the blue heading above to find out more, and to see the survey.

This is one of the types of stories we write that we know people are going to be very unhappy about. This is an absolute David and Goliath story, with multiple homeowners across New Plymouth (and NZ) as the David’s - and the NZ Government, The United Nations, and a Global Infrastructure Corporation as one huge massive Goliath.

Click on the blue heading above to read this story.