Hot Off The Press
Update on Tukituki clean-up
March 12, 2010
With dead fish floating in the Tukituki recently, BayBuzz checked on the status of the much-heralded plan to build a system that would dispose of CHB’s treated effluent on land instead of into the river.
Inexcusably, it seems that the CHB District Council fell asleep on the consent paperwork, requiring the HB Regional Council to step in and “project manage” the process. BayBuzz understands that the resource consent application will now be filed by the end of April.
The Regional Council is still hoping to plant trees this winter on the pasture blocks they are purchasing near the CHB settlement ponds. Once the system is operational, effluent from these ponds would be used to fertilize the trees. The Regional Council must purchase more land for the scheme than originally expected, since they now realize that high volumes of stormwater infiltrate the CHB sewer system during the winter, which has caused the settlement ponds to overflow into the river in the past. More volume requires more land.
Assuming the Regional Council doesn’t embarrass itself by rejecting the resource consent application it has largely orchestrated for CHB, it will still be up to CHB to actually commit the funds (which are in its long term plan) to get the new infrastructure constructed.
The way things are going, the on-land effluent scheme appears unlikely to be operational before the deadline already stipulated by CHB’s current consent from the Regional Council (i.e., 2014). In other words, little or no appreciable step-up in the clean-up schedule.
Tom Belford
P.S. In case anyone is still uncertain, at last check Tim Gilbertson is still a Regional Councillor. I don’t know how rumours to the contrary got started!
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Councillor Tim Gilbertson resigns!
March 10, 2010
In a move that shocked his fellow Councillors, Tim Gilbertson yesterday resigned from the Regional Council. In a meandering resignation soliloquy, here’s what Gilbertson had to say …
I can no longer pretend that I’m making a contribution on behalf of my CHB constituency to the conduct of the region’s governance. I had thought I might make it through a full three year term, but today’s point of order over who had the first right of reply on the amendment to the amendment pushed me over the edge.
I am happy to leave those matters to Eileen and Christine.
I have never really believed in the mission of the Regional Council and its ridiculous emphasis on protecting the environment. What nonsense! Time after time I have asked Council staff to produce just one dead body — from right here in Hawke’s Bay — as proof that people actually perish from sooty air or polluted water or contaminated soil … and not once has this evidence been produced.
And with the single possible exception of spending millions and millions of dollars in my district to harvest water — the best idea to hit Hawke’s Bay since refrigeration — I have yet to discover a Regional Council program that is worth spending a ratepayer dime on.
So for me to continue the charade of being a Regional Councillor is a burden I can no longer bear …
It’s like asking a vegetarian to be a butcher.
An atheist to be a pastor.
A drug dealer to be a babysitter.
Or in my case, an anarchist to be an elected official.
I apologize for deceiving the good citizens of Central Hawke’s Bay, who I might have inadvertently led to believe I was representing them as their Regional Councillor. Any reading of the proceedings of the Council will put that illusion to rest. I was just having fun.
I’ve now decided that the more honourable path would be to deride the Regional Council from the outside, rather than from within. Hopefully, I will be able to continue in my role as a columnist for BayBuzz Digest, although I suspect even they might find me over the edge.
I will also be available for hire as a salesman for super-phosphates, or as a lobbyist for water harvesting and irrigation. I hope in my lifetime to see the day when I can tramp down the middle of the Tukituki for its full length without getting my boots wet.
Naturally, I’ve thought about whether I would miss anything about being a Regional Councillor. Other than getting paid for marking time, and those terrific free lunches on Council meeting days, I can’t think of anything.”
I must confess that I am gutted to see Tim go. He was the Oscar Wilde of the Regional Council. A true wit and entertainer. But in these tough economic times, even Tim recognizes that his ratepayers deserve to get their hard-earned money’s worth.
Don’t worry Tim, there will always be a place for you at BayBuzz.
Tom Belford
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Shameless pitch
March 9, 2010
It’s for an American band. But hey, it’s from a local HB boy … Paul Paynter.
Here’s what Paul says about the Old Crow Medicine Show, a country/bluegrass band performing March 20 at the HB Opera House. [As far as I know, he's not their manager.]
…
Heading north out of Atlanta, all I could find on the radio was Rap. It’s the testosterone metronome of urban indulgence and resentment. The unrelenting Hone Harawira vernacular was too much to bear and I was relieved on Route 365, north of Gainsville, when I entered another world.
To my dismay at the time, my radio became possessed by Country, Folk and Bluegrass.
This is a part of the U.S. that is not well known or travelled by New Zealanders. It’s the country featured in the movie Cold Mountain; the bottom end of the Appalachian Trail. It’s a remote and rugged place, where Eric Rudolph, the Altlanta Olympic bomber evaded U.S. authorities for more than 5 years.
The Declaration of Independence refers to ‘these united colonies’ and it struck me that’s it’s as true as it ever was. As you drive into the Great Smokey Mountains, you enter an eclectic time warp, into an old world of insular authenticity.
To call a something insular has such negative connotations. America is insular. Most of their young people seem to do their OE carrying an assault rifle, or not at all. But when it comes to art, insular is not so bad. Oscar Wilde once noted that England produced some of the greatest poets, because no one actually reads poetry. The wild rose in bloom does not need admirers to make it beautiful.
In all aspects of life, commercialism creeps in and mediocrity prevails. Italian food becomes Pizza Hut, the movies are soulless Hollywood remakes and the new musical phenomenon is just another Simon Cowell boy band. If you want an authentic experience, you have to look in the “out of the way” places.
The Smokey Mountains was that “out of the way” place in which I found Bluegrass and American Folk music and it’s worth getting excited about.
While the roots of this music might lie in Ireland, this part of America is a far cry from the cosmopolitan melting pot of Dublin. I can’t argue, there is something to be said for the hybrid vigour borne of melding musical styles. There’s also something to be said for sitting on the porch and playing a banjo, just for you and the critters.
This old time music has been brought to prominence by bands like Old Crow Medicine Show. Not since Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark has there been a band so worthy of an acronym. The young men in OCMS demonstrate the musicianship that is only borne of years of hard graft. At the core of their music you sense an uncommon passion to preserve and develop the music they love.
Hawke’s Bay is hardly a bastion for such fringe musical styles, but OCMS have courageously included Hastings on their current tour.
But before you think this might be nice folksy stuff you could recommend to your grandmother, I should warn you. These young men may have moved on from their snarling adolescence, but their themes still commonly include drugs, liquor and related misdemeanours. They are now at the peak of their talents, straddling the divide between tearaway youth and the seasoned craftsman.
They are not to be missed.
Paul Paynter
OCMS play the Hawke’s Bay Opera House Saturday 20 March.
Comments
Passions run high at Hastings Council
March 7, 2010
Last Thursday was an emotional day at the Hastings Council as Councillors weighed the trade-offs in the draft 2010/11 annual budget, soon to be issued for public consultation.
What was all the fuss about?
Well, it wasn’t over the 90% increase in staff costs over the last eight years.
No, it wasn’t over whether the new Clive sewage treatment plant will ever stop smelling.
Nor was it over closed-to-the-public consideration of a lobbying slush fund to help push the case for a velodrome at the sports park.
Nor was it any of the “big ticket” items in the $57 million in spending recommended by staff.
No, heavier issues weighed on the Councillors and fueled their passions …
- Should photocopying fees at the library be increased from $0.10 to $0.20? After all, there’s $8,100 at stake.
- Should there be an inflation adjustment made to Hastings’ 50% share of the costs of the HB Cultural Trust … I forget the exact fiscal implication … around $7k as I recall.
- Should Councillors get more ratepayer subsidy for their “official business” computer and internet costs? [Although Councillors themselves are feeling the pinch on their household telecommunications bills, they didn't hesitate to sock elderly ratepayers living in Council flats with a proposed $5-$7 per week hike in rent!]
- And what about disturbing complaints that urban residents who cut “The Council’s” curbside grass in front of their homes have no place to put the clippings? [I'm not kidding!]
This is a tragi-comic scene repeated each budget year.
The staff recommends a nearly $60 million operating budget (no depreciation or capital expense in that figure) and then — I think for the sheer delight of watching what ensues — provides a list of about $1 million worth of “maybe’s” for the Councillors to hyper-ventilate about.
It works every time. The Councillors are totally distracted — I’d say happily — from the big picture.
Now for some good news …
At Thursday’s session, the Chief Executive reported on efficiencies that had been achieved in Council operations — in areas like energy use, fewer rates notices, less dependence on outside engineering consultants, outsourcing of nursery activities — accounting for a 5% savings in operating costs.
More than any other Councillor, Wayne Bradshaw deserves some credit for this accomplishment. With most Councillors yawning and fidgeting, Councillor Bradshaw insisted that this target be set during last year’s budgeting process. I’m sure the Chief Executive would say that he’s always looking for savings. But it never hurts to have the incentive of a mandated public target!
Says Councillor Bradshaw: “It was very pleasing to see the list of Efficiencies Achieved since the 5% target was introduced in last year’s LTCCP. I would congratulate the CEO and all the HDC staff for their positive efforts in this area. Whilst some of the savings listed as efficiencies could be debated as prudent management, it is still a positive step forward.”
“Setting a target creates a need to look for efficiencies. This helps lead to better practices and a change in the culture of the Council. In past years, the practice seems to have been ‘let’s tell the Councillors what we are going to spend’ rather than the other way around.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Napier and Regional Councils followed Hastings’ lead on this one?
Tom Belford
Comments
2 Responses to “Passions run high at Hastings Council”
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Max Patmoy - Eskdale on
March 8th, 2010 6:20 am
Amalgamation…
You’re kidding?
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Dean Hyde on
March 8th, 2010 8:49 pm
Well done Cr Bradshaw!
Tom is quite right to highlight how easliy overcome Local Government politicians can be when faced with such significant tasks, however Cr Bradshaw’s approach is the most prudent by offering Management the ability to focus on a goal and manage within its boundaries appropriately.
Without I might add leading to the preverbial ‘bun fight’ when the politicians are required to undertake the process themselves.
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Man About Town
March 5, 2010
A bit of a twist this weekend, our Man About Town, Andrew Frame takes some shots at the recent Art Deco celebrations. But firing back is Robert McGregor of the Art Deco Trust.
You be the judge.
Sooo Last Century
By Andrew Frame
Art Deco Weekend rolled around once again a couple of weeks ago. One of the last big digs of summer for the Hawke’s Bay tourism industry. It’s a weekend when tourists flood into Napier and a large portion of the locals decide it would be a good time to stay at home, do the gardening, play cricket or see if Palmerston North is still worth visiting.
Beloved has wanted to take part in this faux fur fest for some years. I have told her the only way I would take part would be if she went as Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and I went dressed as King Kong. A large portion of bananas would also be required to seal the deal.
This year I decided to dress up just a little. I even made my own costume. You may remember in my “Dear Santa” post, I wished for some printing gear to make my own T-shirt line? Well, I designed some tops that read “Art Deco is SO Last Century,” had a small run made and sold them.
Wearing mine up town over the weekend I got a dirty look from Bertie, and the photographer from Hawke’s Bay Today refused to take a photo of me, a life-long Napier resident, getting “dressed up.” He also made one of the people I sold a shirt to move so you could only read the “Art Deco” part of their shirt when photographing their shop’s window display. Hardly unexpected in either case, especially for the paper when you see how they’ve rallied behind the Mayor’s planned substantial signage surcharge. Trying to turn the city into some sort of living museum stuck eighty five years in the past at up to $500 per year, per shop.
Mostly I got funny looks and laughs (a number from people in period costume!) and a lot of positive comments. I even took a couple more orders. Not too bad at all, considering I was expecting to receive a fur stole or vintage cane upside the head before the weekend was out from some disgusted Deco-ite.
I like the buildings, love the cars and especially adore the Harvards in the air show. It’s just some of the people I can’t stand. Like the person who said: “On Art Deco Weekend Napier’s CDB looks like a vintage movie set except half of the crowd forgot their costumes.” I’m still not sure if that’s a compliment or not. Dressing up as they do, some people’s personalities change. “Pip-pips” and “Tally ho’s!” ring through the streets. The already overused “Sweetie, sweetie, darling, darling” gauge goes off the scale.
I find a lot of the events a bit of a double standard or pretentious. Towards the end of its original run, Art Deco fell out of favor for being too “gaudy and presenting a false image of luxury” (a lovely quote I borrowed from Wikipedia). Kind of like New Zealand in the eighties before the stock market went “Splat!”
Despite its depression and prohibition-era setting, there is very little to be depressed about other than a number of the events charging well over $50 per person, putting them out of the reach of many. If you do get a little “ho-hum” (damn, now I’m doing it) there are few “dry” events too. Many events on the programme featured something between a tipple and a torrent of liquor to wash your worries away. What would Elliot Ness think?
Beloved and I spent most of our time, as many do on Saturday night and Sunday, simply strolling through the streets, picnic, car and air shows, listening to the bands and watching all the dressed-up people watching the bands.
After watching “An Officer and a Gentleman” Beloved has a strange affinity for the Navy band which I find hard to understand. Their uniform is hardly flattering for the female figure. Speaking of which, the flapper style of dress which are everywhere over the weekend were designed to make the ‘bright young things’ (18 to 30 year old women) of the 1930’s look even brighter and younger (and ‘thingier’?). On the current women of that age, the recreations can look fantastic. On those who were 18 to 30 the first time around, not so much.
People will always say, “Art Deco Weekend is good for the city.” But how? Certainly hospitality and accommodation businesses rack it in, but while the visitors look at the buildings, cars and each other there isn’t that much spent in the city. I have even spoken to people in the Art Deco Trust who agree. Many retailers have their poorest days of the year this weekend. There must be some way to change this. It’s been the same for as long as I can remember and I worked in town for a number of Art Deco Weekends almost a decade ago.
Perhaps a counter-culture is called for. Maybe next year I could do a bigger run of T-shirts and a throng of people could wear them and celebrate “Non-Deco Weekend” No parades, no picnics; instead have a weekend long shopping spree!
Responds Robert McGregor, Heritage Officer, Art Deco Trust …
So Last Century?!
At last it’s becoming fashionable to take the mickey out of Art Deco. It‘s been a long wait, but we’re glad the time has come, for the true mark of success is when it becomes fashionable to deride what others see as A Good Thing. Oops – I should have said “for a few to deride”.
When he was googling Art Deco to see what Wikipedia had to say about it, Man About Town may have noticed that Napier is mentioned there in the section on ‘Surviving Examples’, with a photo of the Soundshell among the 5 that appear. And the second item that comes up in that search is “Art Deco Trust – Complete Information about the Architecture and Styles of Napier. NZ.” The third item is “Art Deco Weekend – Art Deco Trust”.
Not bad for a small Kiwi city. Still thinking of a weekend in Palmy, MAT? And it’s all free – promotion that Napier couldn’t afford to pay for, along with the scores and scores of articles in magazines and newspapers and the tv programmes that have been seen worldwide.
But Man About Town is not the first to jump on the put-down bandwagon. There have been a few texts from Weekend Whingers to the editor of HB Today in the last fortnight – and relatively literate ones too, for a change. [It appears from tonight’s paper that HB Today is now translating them from Tekspeak into English.]
One complains that there is no liquor ban on the Marine Parade over the Weekend while there is one on New Year’s Eve. Not fair. Another, on the same subject, claims that Napier citizens get the shaft, unable to booze in the streets except on Art Deco Weekend. You’d think they’d be grateful for that. Asks another – “was there a special license issued for these people”? Well yes, there was. Possibly because nobody acts irresponsibly over Art Deco Weekend – it’s just too uncool for the hoons to be seen there. Fortunately.
Another moans that the Council should forget about Art Deco and provide a decent Parents’ Room in the CBD. There are two, actually – one by the Soundshell and one in Memorial Square. Admittedly that’s a recent innovation compared with the one in Hastings, the first in New Zealand. Ours has only been there since 1925.
Another texter is sick of Art Deco and wants us to look to the future. Hmm. Not much of a market for 21st century heritage tourism so far. But in any case the Trust has always thought it was looking to the future: tourism = new money = jobs for your kids, grandkids and mine.
It’s puzzling that Man About Town thinks that Art Deco doesn’t benefit the city. Surely any man about town worthy of the name knows by now that tourism doesn’t just benefit the accommodation and hospitality sectors. The Art Deco Economic Impact Study has been trotted out ad nauseum, and if he hasn’t seen it by now then we’re not going to bore everyone with the details. But to briefly summarise, the total multiplier impact of Art Deco tourism year-round, four years ago, was $23 million, and the impact of the Art Deco Weekend alone, back in 2002, was $4.16 million.
To put it in a nutshell, a local hairdresser once said that “You don’t have to convince me about the benefits of tourism. I only have to compare my takings in the summer with those in the winter.”
“Not that much is spent in the city,” MAT says. All the income from those exorbitant $50 plus tickets is spent in the city. And if the Saturday of the Weekend is the poorest for retailers, then it can’t be our fault. We put thousands of people outside the shops, and if the retailers can’t get them inside, then it’s a bit tough to blame us. Perhaps we should move the car parade to Ahuriri or Taradale. No guesses as to how the retailers there would respond to that idea.
Man About Town is welcome to organise a non-Art Deco Weekend – but why bother? There are already 50 of them each year. Or doesn’t he get about town often enough to notice?
One would have thought that when he was getting about town over Art Deco Weekend, he would have noticed that he was surrounded by thousands of people who are Mad About this Town. Such a pity to spoil their fun!
No, MAT. You haven’t made a great case. But no matter – we don’t take you seriously, for we know that you only do it to tease.
Comments
2 Responses to “Man About Town”
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Charlie Chaplin on
March 6th, 2010 9:17 am
Well said Robbo. Mug About Town oops Man About Town is a real sour pus.
I have a full time career getting drunk, acting the fool and upsetting the Art Deco Trust. Nevertheless the weekend is the premier event of the Provence loved by thousands and thousands of Hawke’s Bay residents.
Wearing a T shirt like that may be very risky next year. People get very upset with sour pusses raining on their parade.
As they said in Hill Street Blues “Be careful, it’s dangerous out there”.
Take it from a dangerous old moustached guy with a walking stick -
Rob Pharazyn on
March 6th, 2010 11:26 am
I’m from the Bay but currently live in Auck. and i think what A.Frame is misunderstanding is the fact that Art Deco weekend is viewed as a professionally run opportunity for people from all over the world and within NZ to get together and experience a bit of well-run nostalgia…and what’s wrong with that?
They’re mildly amusing and aren’t frightening the horses so let them air kiss each other and blather on!To those sorts of people ( and i’m definitely not one of them ) the world has gone mad and events like Art Deco give them a slice of emotional relief and fun whilst giving the locals something to either throw metaphoric stones at or shock, horror… get involved.
Hawkes Bay has always been chronically “event -starved” and this weekend is one of the few well organised antidotes to that situation.
Retailers shouldn’t moan either!
You can advertise for them but if they’re not up for it inside their shops then no amount of spin will drive people into a boring retail outlet.The moral in the story is for the Bay to get it’s act together and start creating some more large scale events like Art Deco weekend and stop staring transfixed at local billboards and wine labels proclaiming ” we are wine country” ( or is that ” whine country ” )
Move forward from following the same annual rotate of The Mission concert, The Wine weekend, The Equestrian show ( did i miss one?) etc.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Talk about cargo-cult thinking….Create something new, the planes will come and then poor ole Art Deco Weekend and the slightly -demented who love and enjoy it will become less apparent and give A. Frame something fresh to whinge about ?!
But then again maybe his adage is right… Art Deco IS soooo last century, isn’t it?
Thought that was the whole point of it…but then what would i know…..I live in Auckland…
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Havelock North celebrates 150 years
March 3, 2010
Starting next Monday, March 8, Havelock North will begin officially celebrating its 150th anniversary.
Events and activities range from historical tours (including a cemetery tour) and presentations to a Civic Lunch at Black Barn on Saturday March 13 to a special choral service at St Luke’s.
Click here for details.
Tom Belford
Comments
Cranford “audit” update
March 2, 2010
Two “auditors” from the Technical Advisory Service (TAS), one an Australian palliative medicine specialist and the leader a non-clinician, were in Hawke’s Bay last week to investigate complaints about care at Cranford Hospice.
TAS is a shared service used by a number of North Island DHBs to conduct “independent” reviews of program performance.
Since Hawke’s Bay DHB staff has dismissed complaints about Cranford as either “ancient history” or based on uninformed innuendo, but is nevertheless the entity to whom the audit will be delivered, it remains to be seen exactly how much impact this review will have.
The auditors are presently writing their draft report based upon interviews they conducted last week with nurses and others, after spending the weekend with Cranford management.
If there is anyone who would still like to come forward and speak with the audit team, they must do so by the end of this week. The lead auditor is Melissa Bailey. She can be reached at (04) 801-2783, 027-245-5235, or Melissa_Bailey@centraltas.co.nz
Perhaps contrary to what DHB Board members expect, the auditors appear to be operating from a very limited brief (the brief has not been made public).
The auditors say they are looking narrowly at the specifics of the complaints that were recently brought to the notice of the Health & Disabilities Commissioner. However, the specific complaints “officially” filed are merely symptomatic of an unhealthy management culture at Cranford supported by Presbyterian Services over a considerable period of time. Here is the brief BayBuzz recommended.
Whether or not the auditors will address the full range of management and governance issues — and how DHB Board members respond if they do not — is the million dollar question.
Once the draft report is written by the audit team, it will be submitted both to Cranford management and to DHB executives for their comments and response. Then a final report will be prepared. Left murky is how the auditors will evaluate management’s response. For example, the auditor would not confirm that the original complainant would have an opportunity to address any Cranford or DHB staff comments before the final report is completed.
And of course no one — auditors or DHB — have indicated whether they will release the final report to the public.
Meantime, we have learned that it’s business as usual at Cranford, with management — apparently presuming they will survive this immediate nuisance — threatening a full investigation into who on the Cranford staff has “leaked” information to outside parties like BayBuzz.
Another reason not to feel sanguine about this process.
Ultimately, whether this audit is deemed sufficient in scope and depth, as well as whether it is actioned, will be in the hands of the Hawke’s Bay DHB Board. They should have the final report in hand by the end of April, according to the lead auditor. May should be interesting.
Tom Belford
Comments
3 Responses to “Cranford “audit” update”
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Dinah Williams on
March 2nd, 2010 10:14 am
To pre-judge and to criticise the process of the Audit of Cranford Hospice,at this early stage,smacks of the incredible bias Bay Buzz has revealed in its handling of this matter.
I am saddened, deeply saddened by all that has come to pass over this issue.
The paramount and over-riding point for me is that Cranford Hospice, the institution, is able to continue into the future to deliver the very best in palliative care. And from my observations that is exactly what is happening now, as it has done over many years.
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Ewan McGregor on
March 2nd, 2010 4:38 pm
Fair comment by Diana Williams. BayBuzz has always worked on the principle that the best time to put the boot in is when the adversary is down. It may be dead trout at Patangata – a real bad look so why wait for the cause of death to be determined; an odour problem at the HDC wastewater treatment plant (a “fiasco”) that deals with sewerage from about 50,000 people; a stoush outside a Havelock North bar by the then financial promoter of the Regional Sports Park and even though it had nothing to do with the merits or otherwise of the Park it obviously was an embarrassment to the Mayor; a water quality problem with the Tahurua that suddenly has become an issue. And so it goes.
Stuff happens, and it can’t happen fast enough for Tom Belford. It may be a problem for a local council that needs addressing, but it’s mother’s milk to Tom. To mix my metaphors, BayBuzz wheels overhead waiting for a faltering step. Bay Buzzard maybe. Most of us have got better things to do with our time.
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morton osborne on
March 2nd, 2010 8:45 pm
Perspicacity is really fundamental to credibility. When a person cannot discern what is or is not a ridge and can support further development up TeMata Peak on that basis, and when questioned about further non compliance ‘the company’ (?’ pre Lawrence’s rule’) are able to say, ‘we are capable of making our own decisions’ – where is the accountability. It really indicates a cavalier disregard for such.
Or when you hear of Council’s cost cutting approaches and see four trucks (albeit ‘toy’ trucks) four men and a rotary hoe tending a garden bed under Lawrence’s window (a wee whiles back), where is the credibility? Where is the accountability?
So, well may you support Dinah, Ewan, if indeed Dinah and Diana are one and the same.
‘Stuff’ doesn’t just happen. The new sewage art works were stated to be functioning according to specifications. If this is the case and the release of H2S (sewer gas) is such that the Regional Council ‘forced’ their closure – given the intimate relationship between councils – suggests the health safety standards were well and truly breached … so not just a bad smell Ewan, although we may never know, because the Regional Council have become so precious about releasing the data from their air quality monitors. Public information, I would have thought.
Obviously Ewan a poorly informed ‘green-driven sustainable’ decision of questionable function and a potentially dangerous one … and no accountability?And the Regional sports Park, also built in an SO2, H2S rich environment … for how long can our decision makers be so dismissive of the potential harm done to others by condoning unsafe practices on the questionable basis of preserving the economic base of the area, and in the face of escalating abysmal health statistics.
If the EPA standards for the use of lime sulfur were imposed here (48 hours no entry), ‘organic’ orcharding would simply be impracticable (aside from our climate being too temperate for such) … where is ERMA on this issue? Where is OSH? Where are our environmental protectors the Regional Council? How can they condone off site spray drift on such a mass scale?
Perhaps if all those with cars needing a repaint were to send their accounts to the Regional Council, there may be some action (because caustic lifts paint) … perhaps?And of dead trout? The matter of raw sewage entering the Tukituki, which is being addressed, so they say, albeit that it is a long-term project … and this at the same time as looking at making dairy farming in the upper reaches viable (aside from effluent disposal) which will, I am sure, be taken care of by the tutai Tukituki and will only be minimally differentiable from the Clive milli-screened out fall.
Knowledge and information are an imperative in being able to participate constructively in any community, BayBuzz is certainly endeavouring to do this and succeeding to a greater or lesser extent depending on perspective.
So given much of the above-described scenario a functional Cranford, ‘able to continue into the future to deliver the very best in palliative care’ is increasingly an imperative.
To exude stuff from the gills Ewan, is not a good look.
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Recent Posts
- Update on Tukituki clean-up - March 12, 2010
- Councillor Tim Gilbertson resigns! - March 10, 2010
- Shameless pitch - March 9, 2010
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What a scarey expose of the Regional Council’s goings on! All the best Tim – I am also gutted to see you go.
Good on you, Tim, for sticking with commonsense and your principles!
‘The soliloquy of a clown.’
I cannot think of any memorable contribution from Tim, nor does his epitaph stimulate further or additional recall.
The Hawkes Bay is facing many real issues and the renditions deriving from a naive ‘wannabe wordsmith’ don’t offer much in addressing these.
The above valedictary speech reflects both a lack of knowledge and an obvious indifference to acquiring such knowledge before looking for a stage.
‘I have never really believed in the mission of the Regional Council and its ridiculous emphasis on protecting the environment. What nonsense! Time after time I have asked Council staff to produce just one dead body — from right here in Hawke’s Bay — as proof that people actually perish from sooty air or polluted water or contaminated soil … and not once has this evidence been produced.’
With this offering though, I minimally agree. PM10s at the site of the council’s air quality monitor do not support the need to reduce such emissions in this area. Observation would indicate this not to be the case in Flaxmere however.
The issue in Hawkes Bay is with PM2.5 emissions (CASx, SO2, H2S, Nx, and ensuing ozones).
In this respect, if you want the evidence: A&E admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular issues; air ambulance flights to Wellington Hospital, and perchance mortality rates, particularly in the last week of July and the first two weeks of August … especially if it is wet will almost certainly indicate such.
You need a little knowledge to be able to look in the right areas and to be able to ask the right questions … puns and other such, and a shallow analysis will, or should have, little impact on eventualities.
It is entirely proper that this philosophy of ‘all the world is a stage’ should exclude his presence on the Regional Council, or any other forums looking at seriously addressing issues that impact on the Hawkes Bay and its residents.
Hmmmm…curiouser and curiouser and beware of the Ides of March?
my secret squirrel agent down in the Bay tells me that maybe Cnr. Tim may not have said ( shock,horror) the lofty words ascribed to him here on the Bay Buzz and that action may be pending.
Has that tome of international repute , Hawkes Bay Yesterday, covered this story of Tim’s resignation?
apparently not, according to the squirrel…so what could this mean?
Batman..the commissioner wants you..NOW !!!!!!!!!
‘Twell may be a spoof … but where there exits some basis in reality, and indeed there are some … & the ides, I believe, are fifteen days into the month of March, so perhaps a tad premature there Rob?
This is a spoof, guys- Tim did not resign yesterday.
As per advice from Liz, spoof confirmed. Amazing how people can get sucked in – and the confusion is widespread! Very witty and entertaining Baybuzz, but a grossly unfair distortion of Cr . Gilbertsons views and contribution. I know he can take a joke but an explanation and apology is deserved.in my view.