No … it’s not fixed. [Read Kathy Webb's Stinkin' Pipes article for Baybuzz Digest if you need the history on this.]

Instead, the Hastings Council has filed a motion with the District Court to block enforcement of the Regional Council’s odour abatement notice, which requires HDC to have come up with an acceptable solution for the odour problem by May 17, or to install lids on its two bio-trickle filtering tanks by August 17 … at a potential cost of $3 million.

What does this filing mean?

BayBuzz has officially requested copies of the HDC papers filed with the Court.

But most likely, that Hastings staff and consultants have not yet found a solution … and are pessimistic that they will in time to comply without a huge expenditure.

HDC’s legal action is probably intended to buy some time, as conventional practice would be for the Court to expect that the two Councils should now engage in some official mediation — tick, tick, tick goes the clock — which would precede setting a Court hearing date should mediation fail.

You know how busy Councils’ staffs are … it make take awhile to get mediation underway! And then there’s the Court’s crammed schedule.

I can see the handwriting on the wall. The Hastings Council, ultimately faced with a stubborn odour problem and an impending compliance deadline, will award an “emergency” lid installation contract without competitive tender … but receive a six-figure “donation” to the sports park in exchange.

Another of those “win win” deals the Mayor is so fond of.

East Clive residents … hold on to your nose clips.

Tom Belford

It’s an issue of principle versus what some might call pragmatism.

Lawrence Yule, Chair of the Regional Sports Park Trust (yes, that’s Mayor Yule to most of us) sat down in his Trust capacity with Higgins Contractors, the folks who build so many roads around here.

They said: Give us the contract to build the roadwork in and around the sports park — a job worth $1.8 million — without having to go through competitive tender, and we’ll donate $500,000 to the sports park ($250k “unconditionally”).

Trust Chairman Yule brought this proposal to the Hastings Council, where it was discussed in public-excluded session and the deal was sanctioned by the Council.

The Trust awarded the contract, and with subsequent fanfare, the “gift” by Higgins to the sports park was welcomed and announced by the Trust.

Taking a principled approach, this might look like highly valuable and profitable public contracts, either directly or indirectly controlled by the Council, are “for sale” on the promise of “contributions” to the sports park. Forget competition, transparency, and public tenders … all of which are designed to protect the public interest.

In this case, one might wonder if Higgins only offered a $100,000 contribution, would that have been enough to secure the contract? Or conversely, maybe the Trust Chairman/Mayor should have struck a tougher deal, asking for $750,000!

And who does a potential vendor think they are negotiating with anyway … Trust Chairman Yule or Mayor Yule? Isn’t this role confusion itself problematic … at least sending an undesirable signal to those who hope to do business with the Council or the Trust?

Or is this simply a matter of pragmatism, as Chair/Mayor Yule argues? He says that the Trust/Council understands enough about roading costs to know that the amount proposed by Higgins to do the work was fair. And the $500,000 contribution was a nice bonus to the community.

Says Mayor Yule: “This is a win win sponsorship. Higgins will provide a very competitive price (tested against well known current pricing) and the Regional Sports Park has benefited from $500k from non ratepayer sources.”

But maybe another contractor would have offered a bigger bonus for the same favor.

And in any event, doesn’t this put the Council on a slippery slope? One might think that, by now, they know the “fair” price of everything and every service they procure. Why bother with competitive tenders at all?

And why discuss all this in public-excluded session? The Mayor says it was a “negotiating situation” that required confidentiality. But there wasn’t any negotiating going on … Higgins had said simply: Give us the contract without public tender and we’ll give you $500,000 … as generous corporate citizens.

In my view, it was debated in private because the whole arrangement might prove embarrassing. But maybe I’m a prude.

On Wednesday, to avoid future situations like this, Councillor Bradshaw attempted to pass a resolution simply requiring the Sports Trust to conduct its contracting and procurement according to the same groundrules as the Council itself. Those rules require contracts valued at over $50,000 to go to competitive public tender.

But this approach horrified Councillors Bowers and Speers, who led the opposition to this “bureaucratic” approach. Mayor Yule, speaking in his capacity as Trust Chairman, indicated the Trust would probably have a problem with being required to follow the Council’s rules. Bradshaw’s resolution failed.

Says Councillor Bradshaw: “Competitive tendering is the cornerstone to getting best value for the ratepayers and as such should have been one of the first conditions in the agreement for HDC to fund the RSP Trust. What is required is one consistent rule for all organisations being funded by the HDC. It was a shame that myself and only three of my fellow Councillors agreed.”

What do you think? Should principle or pragmatism have prevailed here? And what about going forward? For example, if a multi-million dollar velodrome is being built?

Should would-be vendors have the expectation that, with a bit of a bonus contribution, they can avoid competitive tendering?

Here is a two-question poll you can take to indicate your view (and comment further if you like).

Tom Belford

Here’s Part 2, the continuation of her examination. Or you can download the entire article here.

Stinkin’ Pipes! (Part 2)
By Kathy Webb

$27m down the toilet?
Environmental watchdog David Renouf says Hastings has effectively thrown $27m down the toilet. Bio-trickle filtering without a first-stage settling process and a third stage clarifier to remove all the filtered sludge is a waste of money, he says, because large amounts of the biomass that removes nutrients from the raw sewage are flushed out of the tanks along with the filtered liquid, on to the seabed.

“It’s a bit like vacuuming your lounge, then emptying the bag all over the floor,” he says. He believes the bio-trickle plant and its accompanying “Papatuanuku Channel” were the $27m price tag for Maori agreement to a sewage-disposal solution for Hastings.

But he says Maori were misled into believing there is no human waste in the filtered discharge to sea, because although it might not be raw anymore, it is part of a chunky glutinous mass that will take a lot longer to disperse than milliscreened sewage. It’s unknown what effects biomass will have on the marine environment, because not enough tests have been done yet to prove it is harmless. And it still contains heavy metals, viruses, parasites and suspended solids that the filters have not dealt with.

Mr McLeod rejects any notion of “a $27m spend just to satisfy cultural concerns,” and says the project was necessary to meet conditions for the plant’s resource consent. The Council’s tangata whenua wastewater committee has yet to sign off on the new bio-trickle plant, but if it refuses to do so, “we’ll have to work through the whys and wherefores.”

Group asset manager David Fraser says the concept of changing the form of human waste into biomass came from Monty Paku, one of the wastewater committee members, and he’s confident the system will get the final seal of approval.

The Papatuanuku channel is an open drain studded with rocks that were blessed by Maori and are now generally referred to as “sacred,” although the Council itself does not use that word. The rocks were brought from a quarry at Linton, near Palmerston North, to spiritually cleanse the filtered discharge before it heads out to sea. It is “more symbolic than anything,” Mr Fraser says. But it is a “standard concept across New Zealand , with slightly different perceptions between iwi.”

He rejects Mr Renouf’s criticism. The filter tanks can be compared to a “quick composting” bin in a garden, turning waste into another form, but much more quickly.
“What’s coming out is bugs’ waste.” he says, and the Council is monitoring the seabed around the sewage outfall 2.5km out at sea “to see if there are any adverse changes.”
So far, the Regional Council has not replied to BayBuzz requests to see the monitoring data.

In a magazine article headlined “Cultural dreams become a technical reality with innovative wastewater treatment,” Mr Fraser describes the new Hastings system as “a model that others can follow.” “Essentially, we have secondary treatment for half the cost of primary, or one third the cost of the traditional configuration for biological trickling filters.”

The Maori cultural element focused on avoiding the transport of sewage sludge on roads past homes, marae, etc, and required “a great deal of lateral thinking and discussion from within the Maori community,” which eventually aligned the bio-trickle process with “the long drop approach, in which human waste was allowed to grow old and become inert with dignity.”

The Council’s legal adviser, Mark von Dadelszen, is more effusive. In a written article he describes the consultation and co-operation that led to the construction of Hastings’ novel take on bio-trickle filtering as an historic blend of Maori spirituality and modern science.

The Papatuanuku channel was the solution, he said, by invoking the sons of Papatuanuku ( Maori God of the Earth) to purify and spiritually cleanse the sewage, with “Tanemahuta providing biomass to transform kupara (faeces) by removing the mauri (spirit) of human wastes. Tangaroa (the sea) receives the transformed waste after passage through Papatuanuku and heals himself through movement of the ocean, and Tawhirimatea (god of the winds and weather) agitates the surface of Tangaroa and through a synthesis of air and water completes the cleansing process.”

Des Ratima, a member of the District Council’s Maori Joint Committee, is less than impressed by the lateral thinking and consultation that led to the construction of a waste disposal channel named Papatuanuku.

In fact, he’s horrified. “It’s not respectful at all. It’s totally inappropriate, almost to the point of being offensive.” Papatuanuku (Mother Earth) is a concept of support and nourishment resulting in a cleansing, “not to take dirty water and make it less dirty,” Mr Ratima says.

He’s surprised the Tangata Whenua Committee allowed what he considers to be a serious spiritual distortion, and intends to consult “a few people whose opinions I respect, and see what they think about it.” A name change for the channel could well be on the cards, he says.

The East Clive treatment plant has already attracted a lot of attention from other councils.

Napier is poised to build an identical system at Awatoto, but its tanks will have lids. Mayor Barbara Arnott says Napier is still watching events at East Clive before seeking its own resource consents later this year. “Everyone’s learned a lot from the Hastings experience.”

Napier should not have the same problems because it has a larger urban area and therefore higher volumes of domestic sewage to maintain momentum in the pipeline and filtering, she says.

It will also have a permit to discharge offensive odours to the air!

Sidebars (2)

A saga of investigation and consultation
In the early 1980s, Hastings was pumping all its sewage out to sea via a 2.75km pipeline, the longest ocean outfall in the country. It was a minimalist approach, relying on oxygen-rich receiving waters and high sunshine hours to provide plenty of ultra-violet light to break down and disperse the sewage.

Milliscreens were added in 1993 to catch the toiletries and other items that sometimes got through the initial screening.

In 1998, the Hastings Council sought a renewal of its resource consent to continue the discharge. Maori objected to a continuation of human waste going straight into the ocean, and eventually the Council was ordered to heed their concerns and consult them.

In 2001, the Council was granted consent to build a new wastewater treatment plant, to be ready by 2007, and the Council-Maori Tangata Whenua Joint Wastewater Committee was formed with the task of ensuring any new system resulted in “the significant removal of kuparu (human waste)” by 2007, and the “complete removal of kuparu” by 2009.

Maori were not happy about the natural settlement system being considered by the Council, so the committee set about finding an alternative to meet everyone’s standards. The stand-alone bio-trickle filter tanks were the result.

Hastings’ resource consent expires in just four years, so the Council must begin a whole new round of public consultation later this year. Mr Chapman says public expectations for sewage treatment have raised the bar a lot in recent years, so he will not be surprised if there turns out to be a mood for even more treatment, maybe sludge removal after filtering, or ultra-violet light.

How it Works
A traditional bio-trickle filter system has three stages – primary treatment such as settling tanks, followed by the trickle filtering, then clarifiers to collect the resulting sludge, which is removed before the wastewater flows on to its intended destination.

Settled sewage is pumped up to the top of each tank, where rotating arms spray it on to some form of media on which sewage-eating microbes, composed of algae, fungi, protozoa, rotifera, nematodes, and aerobic bacteria, live as a slimy substance commonly called biomass. As the wastewater trickles through the media, the microbes in the biomass grab and eat the nutrients in the sewage.

But Hastings does not have a traditional bio-trickle system. Mr Fraser says that is because traditional systems, built when milliscreening was unavailable, went out of vogue as more cost-effective ones were developed. To save money, it dispensed with the usual first and third stages, and built only the second-stage filter tanks. It also omitted lids on the filter tanks and a closed channel to the sea outfall, which it replaced with an open “spiritual cleansing” channel studded with “sacred” rocks from a quarry at Linton, near Palmerston North. The rocks were free, but cost $5000 to truck to Hastings.

Raw domestic sewage arriving at East Clive is screened and pressed to remove the bulkiest of solids, which are then carted off to Omarunui landfill.

The rest is pumped to spray arms at the top of two 37 metre diameter tanks, each containing five million pieces of plastic, nine metres deep. The wastewater takes 12 minutes to trickle down through the plastic.

It’s a complex process. Bio-trickle filters need a critical mass of sewage to keep their biomass alive. Too much or not enough biomass creates odour. Blockages in the media can cause sections to go anaerobic and smelly, so every few hours, the tanks are flushed to remove any lodged solids such as toilet tissue and excess biomass.

Ends

[You can download the entire article here.]

Kathy will investigate a variety of regional issues in-depth for BayBuzz in the coming months. In her lead-off story, Stinkin’ Pipes, Kathy examines problems surrounding the new Hastings wastewater treatment plant in Clive. Not exactly a glamour assignment! But with $27 million invested, and more required as the Hastings Council struggles to resolve odour problems, we felt the situation warranted a closer sniff.

[Part 1 follows below; Part 2 follows tomorrow. Or download the entire article here.]

Stinkin’ Pipes!
By Kathy Webb

A monumental waste of money, or a marvel of science and cultural sensitivity? The jury is still out, but one thing is sure: Almost since the day it was switched on nine months ago, Hastings ’ new $27 million sewage system has produced a seriously nauseating smell it wasn’t supposed to.

Some days it’s so bad John Robertson loses his breakfast as soon as he steps out the front door. The stink from Hastings ’ new $27 million biological trickle filter sewage tanks at East Clive “has to be smelled to be believed,” he says. “It gets right down into the back of your stomach.”

One of his neighbours says she tries not to breathe too deeply when there’s a fresh northeasterly blowing across the top of the plant’s two giant bio-trickle filter tanks. She describes a raw-sewage taste in her mouth, and cleans her teeth often.

Other neighbours suffer when the wind is more southerly.

There’s also another aspect of this much-hailed technology that has raised eyebrows among those less directly affected by its olfactory misfortunes. The inclusion of spiritual cleansing in a modern engineering process was acknowledgement of Maori cultural concerns, but some — Maori and Pakeha — wonder about the place of that in a publicly-funded sewage treatment plant.

Complaints about an awful smell began pouring in last July, shortly after the Hastings District Council switched on the much-heralded new bio-trickle treatment plant, which won the top national prize in the Technology Innovations category of the 2006 NZ Post Management Excellence awards.

Since then, it’s been a nine-month headache for everyone in charge of it or living with it. Every time the plant builds up toward optimum performance, a gut-wrenching stink wafts across East Clive and the tanks have to be switched off. As Hastings Council chief executive Ross McLeod puts it, “there hasn’t been any substantial, protracted operation of the plant yet.”

For someone so sportingly inept, I have many fond memories of the place.

Massive Mexican waves that stretched around the ground a dozen times at day-night cricket games back in the nineties — this was before plastic beer bottles at sporting events too, so it was a real “multi-media” experience. Half the bottles hadn’t even been emptied … what a waste. Being huddled-up in a corner of the Harris Stand as Napier City Rovers claimed the Chatham Cup in torrential rain. Even watching the “last ever” game between the Hawke’s Bay Magpies and Manawatu before they formed the short-lived and fatally hobbled “Central Vikings.”

The park has developed a real family atmosphere, which is quite fantastic and missing in so many other forums. In between innings at the recent ODI cricket match, the outfield was consumed with dozens of school children playing Milo Cricket. Many sections of the crowd gave the young ones as much support as the older players. It must have been quite a buzz for them.

At the same game, with nails getting bitten down to their quicks as the Black Caps chased down Australia’s score, “Sweet Caroline” and “Daydream Believer” rang out over the PA system. A baby-booming change in playlist from the usual “Oonst-oonst!” dance music that prevails had a large portion of the older crowd in the park chirping up and singing along in reasonably fine voice. What made it even more priceless from where I was sitting in the new Graeme Lowe Stand were the teens sitting lower down, necks arched around and the most beautifully puzzled looks on their faces as if to say “What the hell? That’s not music! What are Dad and Uncle Tom doing?”

While sitting on the embankment during a Blackcaps v England day-night game a few years ago, it was obvious we were amongst a far more sensible embankment crowd than there had been in previous years. It was a late season game with rain interruptions, so multi-layered clothing, coats, umbrellas and tarpaulins were ‘de rigueur’. Yet as usually happens, flocks of scantily clad teenaged girls flitted around the park in some form of mating ritual that would stump even Sir David Attenborough. As they passed our section of grass were they greeted with wolf whistles, catcalls and ribald humor? No. Calls of “Put some clothes on, you’re making me feel cold!” … “Sit down, I can’t see the game!” … and “While you’re up, can you get me some chips please?” rang out instead.

It is also a very fair ground. England and New Zealand batted exceptionally against each other three years ago and it seemed only fair, or fate, that the game ended in a tie. 340 runs each, 680 runs in 100 overs, a truly massive total.

The crowds also have a strict code of ethics. They don’t mind if Brett Lee or Mitchell Johnson bowl at speeds of over 140kph (a tad faster than the average human reaction time) providing it’s at the stumps. When the shorter deliveries start going towards the batsman’s head, “Boo’s!” and calls of “(insert Australian bowler’s name here)’s a w#$%er!” will quickly build. Not particularly sporting, but neither it seems are some of their players.

The crowds can also be quite self-regulatory. I once witnessed a spectator get king-hit from behind by some drunken or, more likely, terminally stupid oaf. While fellow spectators aided the victim, others restrained his assailant. When he tried to resist arrest, the police performed one of the most beautiful “have you met Mr Ground?” manoeuvres I have ever seen, to the cheers of nearby spectators, followed by jeers and suggestions on how he should behave if he ever got to step foot in the park again. Another cheer erupted as the victim got to his feet and was able to walk to the first aid station.

With the Magpies going so fantastically in the NPC and Napier hosting two Rugby World Cup games next year, McLean Park can only get better. Already it looks more like a stadium with the new floodlights and the Graeme Lowe Stand completing a horseshoe of grandstand seating and corporate boxes.

I think this is a relationship that will last for some time.

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

The scenario ultimately chosen as the Heretaunga Plains Urban Growth Strategy, and then embedded in District Plans (or possibly one comprehensive plan for the Hastings and Napier areas), is intended to guide land use decisions in much of the region for the thirty years extending from 2015-2045.

Given the significance of this scenario decision, how the public is consulted will be of paramount importance.

When the Councillors settle upon their consultation plan and the supporting materials the public will see, it is crucial that the issues are framed in a way the average resident can comprehend and respond to meaningfully … and that means NOT in the typical style of consultants and planners!

Here is what the public needs to easily see in any HPUDS consultation brochures, documents or web content …

1. How far-reaching is the recommended scenario geographically? People hearing “Heretaunga Plains” might not be aware that this plan will have significance for areas like Bayview, Te Awanga/Haumoana, Ocean Beach and Waimarama. Given the depth of controversy over Ocean Beach development, for example, many people might be expected to take a keen interest in what the preferred scenario says about that area. Same for Haumoana.

2. Precisely what parts of the Heretaunga Plains are to be protected from urban encroachment? Our politicians have emphasized HPUDS as an exercise to “protect the versatile soils of the Heretaunga Plains.” Therefore, in the consultation materials, it should clear beyond doubt to any Joe Blog — perhaps through a plain map with big bold red lines on it — exactly what land is to be protected and what is not.

3. Exactly what parts of our community will growth come from … and how will the needs of those segments be handled in the recommended scenario? Indeed, the latest population growth estimates from Statistics NZ reported in HB Today last Friday say the region’s population will decline after 2026. So what growth are we planning for, after all?!

Less dramatic than growth in absolute numbers will be the changing composition of HB’s population … with much larger percentages of Maori and seniors over age 65. People in those groups in particular will want to know specifically how their unique housing and lifestyle needs will be met by the recommended scenario. In fact, that might be all they care about in this entire exercise. Also, what does the preferred scenario offer to the 30% of the Bay’s population who live in the region’s most deprived areas (deciles 9 & 10), and what is the role of state housing?

4. Similarly, each of us will want to know … how will the recommended scenario affect my own present neighborhood (and any future choices I might contemplate)? What if I live in Clive or Meeanee or Napier Hill or Bridge Pa?

5. Finally, how do the Councils actually expect to accomplish the land use and settlement goals expressed in their recommended scenario? Housing choices are the reflection of thousands of individual private decisions based upon lifestyle, financial means, and personal taste and values. And developers do their best to accurately read the market and invest accordingly.

Given that market-driven context, what tools and incentives might we expect our Councils to use to “steer” the community toward the settlement (and industrial location) outcomes the planners say are most sensible? If the public says “YES” to one or another scenario, how will that outcome be achieved?

I think these are the kinds of concerns average citizens will have about HPUDS. If the Councils can present their information in a way that frames and responds to these questions, the public consultation process will stand a chance of being meaningful. The Councils will have done their part … and it will be up to the rest of us to engage as if we cared.

Tom Belford

The trout have a black fungus growing in their gills.

One such trout apparently has been sent to a lab for analysis. A potential source of the fungus is sewage.

Meanwhile, we wait and wait for CHB to submit its resource consent application for an alternative sewage disposal scheme. You know, the one that’s supposed to dispose of their effluent on land … before 2014. Yet even with the Regional Council poised with its approval stamp in mid-air (effectively, it will be approving its own plan), CHB has dawdled over filing its application.

I wonder which will arrive first … the toxicology report on the dead trout or CHB’s overdue Tukituki clean-up consent application!

Or October 9th … election day!

Tom Belford

P.S. In addition, fishermen on the Tuki on Thursday report that the river is full of smelly algae, despite ample rains that might have been expected to flush the river.

P.P.S. Hey, Councillors McGregor and Gilbertson, you two are our protectors of the Tuki for that stretch of the river … what’s going on up there?

Our local Councils seem to struggle with the “social well-being” part of this mandate. They shrug off this responsibility, usually saying that the matters one might reasonably consider to constitute social well-being — for example, quality housing, poverty alleviation, preventive health care, crime prevention, among others — are actually the responsibility of central government agencies and their local/regional emissaries. “Not our job,” say the Councillors.

True, of course, there are dedicated agencies for addressing these issues.

Still, the people who most need these services in Hawke’s Bay are actually members of our community … not alien wards of some foreign bureaucracies. And they are the political constituents of our local elected Councils, from whom they should expect recognition, representation and advocacy with respect to their needs.

According to documents prepared for the Heretaunga Plains Urban Development Strategy, fully one-third of the population in the study area lives in decile 9 or 10 areas … that is, the most deprived areas.

This one-third of the population should occupy our elected Councils at least as much as local farmers, retailers, developers, winegrowers, motel operators or environmentalists.

In Napier, Pat Magill, through the Napier Pilot City Trust, has been perhaps the leading advocate trying to get his Council to front up to its social well-being responsibilities. On Wednesday, he makes a presentation to the Napier City Council on the subject, and raises issues with respect to the failures of the Maraenui Urban Renewal Trust. [Here is his presentation: Napier Offers Hope.] In this, he has the support of BayBuzz.

As we get into the election year, it will be fair to ask of Councillors and candidates: What is your view of the nature and extent of responsibility Councils hold with respect to promoting the social well-being of the community … and particularly with respect to incumbents, what have you done to meet that responsibility?

Tom Belford

In a nutshell, the panel recommended firing Environment Canterbury, the area’s regional council. From its report:

“…the Review Group has concluded that ECan’s performance on water policy and management issues (allocation and quality) falls well short of what is essential. This failure requires comprehensive and rapid intervention on the part of central government to protect and enhance both regional and national well-being. Failure to intervene will lead to continued lack of progress in water management in Canterbury. The Review Group considers that a profound change in approach is required to existing institutional frameworks to address this matter properly.”

Wow! Granted, around 70% of NZ’s freshwater resource is in the Canterbury Region, so the situation and stakes are especially high there. The Report documents massive shortcomings in Environment Canterbury’s stewardship of water in the region, many of which are failures unique to that council.

However, as Gary Taylor of the Environmental Defence Society points out (here):

“…water problems are not confined to Canterbury. Certainly that is the region with the most irrigation but water quality problems are evident around New Zealand. This report puts all regional councils on notice that they need to lift their performance and that government is looking for improved governance in freshwater management.

“I note that the Minister is not making any immediate decisions. That is wise. The Report should be considered by the Land and Water Forum which is examining freshwater management nationally to see if there are any New Zealand wide implications from the findings and recommendations.”

[Ironically, the same day this report was issued, John Key was in HB urging more irrigation and dairying. Perhaps he should get off that soapbox at least until the Land and Water Forum comes to some conclusions!]

I’m sure the Canterbury Report is now required reading at our own HB Regional Council. On the “Scale of Bungling” of regional water management, the HBRC does not appear to match the poor performance of Environment Canterbury. [Although some would say the chief distinction is that at least our Hearings Committee gives away our water more quickly!]

The Regional Council is moving, albeit in verrrry … sloooow … mooootion, on Tukituki and Mohaka clean-up issues. Maybe the staff is stretched too thin.

Yet we have $2 million “feasibility” study underway to explore the case for dams on the upper Tukituki to enable more irrigation (and more dairyng?) in CHB.

Let’s get serious here … who has ever heard of a Council spending $2 million on a “feasibility” study that concludes: “Hey, stop, the original proposition sucks!”? More accurately and honestly, ratepayers should consider this a $2 million down payment on a much larger infrastructure investment.

Perhaps the Regional Council should focus first on getting right the water management responsibilities it already carries.

Otherwise, it might simply provide more evidence for the Environmental Defence Society’s view (perhaps shared by some Ministers) … that management of a vital national strategic asset like water might be simply too big, too important, and too complex a job to be left to locals.

Tom Belford

P.S. For a different point of view on Canterbury implications, here’s an excerpt from the Green Party’s release:

“These recommendations are an attack on local democracy,” Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman said. “If implemented, the people of Canterbury would have no democratically-elected regional council to represent their interests. Key decisions about water management would be taken away from elected councillors and put in the hands of a new Government-appointed board. This could be abused by big dairy and commercial interests as an opportunity to ram through new irrigation projects without due process.”

It will fascinating to watch our Regional Councillors make common cause with the Green party on this one … democracy is terrific, when it supports your position!

In his interview, More Initiative, More Flexibility, General Manager Roger Coleman explains how HBOH’s new business structure will enable the Opera House to plan a more ambitious performance schedule, while accommodating a wide range of community events.

And in The Art of Design, Elizabeth Sisson updates on plans to refurbish the HB Museum and Art Gallery … a two-year construction process that will hopefully begin in June.

Enjoy!

Tom Belford

How can one make an uncommon impact? By excelling in some field of endeavor. By influencing the direction of local government on a regular basis. By leading and motivating others to become involved in community activities. By financially, or by outstanding personal service, supporting community causes and human needs. By championing our environment. By modeling important values and behaviours to others in the community. By significantly driving the region’s economic, social or cultural development.

The point of identifying Top Buzzmakers is to celebrate such contributions to the community. To give recognition and show appreciation, to cheer them on to do even more, and to encourage other people to make similar contributions.

In the last issue, we actually only selected 90 Top Buzzmakers from nearly 200 individuals who had been nominated. Our thought was that our readers, seeing the initial list, might have their own notions of who should be celebrated as Buzzmakers. So we asked readers for their nominations for the final ten.

And we got a terrific response, with nearly 100 additional names recommended – educators, farmers, business people, community activists, environmentalists, artists, social service providers … even a few Councillors! All deserving … and all making the final ten selections just as difficult as the first ninety.

Just a word on Councillors. Because public service is their “job” – and there are so many of them – we felt it best in general to exclude them from consideration to leave plenty of room on the list for other people. Simple as that. As it has turned out, two Councillors received considerable support for contributions they make to the community well beyond their “official” role … in the first ninety, Henare O’Keefe; and in our final ten, John Cocking (as you’ll read below).

So, without further adieu, here are the final ten Buzzmakers, followed by the now complete list of HB’s Top 100 Buzzmakers.

Pat Benson
Director of Napier Computing Services and former junior All Black. Received a Spirit of Napier Award for his contributions to the city, including preservation and refurbishment of historic Art Deco buildings and his long-term support and commitment to sports groups and community projects around the Bay.

Wellesley Binding
Leading contemporary-style painter in HB. Lectures and coordinates media and visual communication courses at EIT.

Alistair Bramley
General manager of Environment, Conservation and Outdoor Education Trust (ECOED). Surprised at the critical state of kiwi locally, he initiated the Save our Kiwi Hawke’s Bay project, which has returned nearly 100 juvenile kiwi to the wild.

John Cocking
As “Bertie”, the city of Napier’s most visible, energetic and entertaining ambassador.

Isabel Morgan
Longstanding chair of Forest & Bird in Napier. Ardent conservationist. A member of Keep Napier Beautiful and Ahuriri Protection Society. Trade Aid Shop volunteer.

James Morgan
Retired newspaper editor, farmer, forester and administrator. Life member, Hastings Group Theatre; producer, Napier Operatic Society. As a trustee of The Community Foundation HB, he’s spearheading campaign to establish the Hawke’s Bay Digital Archive, which will use state-of-the-art technology to preserve historic photos, films, slides and oral histories of HB.

Murray Sawyer
Operator of HBTV, Channel 51 … the Bay’s gateway to a local and now national television audience. Locally-produced “Chatroom” offers a platform for HB political and community voices to be heard.

Neil Swindells
Principal of St John’s College in Hastings. Says an admirer: “Takes the ‘hard cases’ that other schools turn away, and makes them into something.”

Bruce Wills (and John, Fiona and Scott Wills)
Operates the 1100 hectare Trelinnoe Farm outside Napier, a model of best practice farming. Serves as national chair of Federated Farmers meat & fibre division. Trelinnoe is also home to a twelve hectare showplace garden and café, a favourite of tourists and locals alike.

Jenny Yule
Founder and Managing Director of award-winning PORSE, which trains people to provide in-home care and education for children. Named most outstanding business woman of 2008 by publisher of Her Magazine for NZ businesswomen. In 2007, HB Chamber named PORSE supreme business of the year.

With these additions, here are the Top 100 Buzzmakers of Hawke’s Bay for 2009/10.

In Focus on Youth, EIT’s Claire Hague reports on innovations at Hastings Girls HS and Wairoa College which seem to be pointing a way, not only to keep senior students in school, but to help them thrive.

In his article, In Good Health, DHB’s new CEO, Dr Kevin Snee talks about how the DHB will be meeting specific central government goals for improved health outcomes (we’re great at immunizations).

And in Cautious Optimism, the Chamber of Commerce’s Murray Douglas offers a slowly improving economic scenario for 2010, and prods Councils to do their part (i.e., amalgamate!).

Finally, in Looking Ahead, Hastings Councillor Wayne Bradshaw admonishes his Council to finish what it starts, instead of bouncing from one uncompleted priority and project to another.

Hmmm. Could Wayne be “jousting”?

As Mayor Yule said in his BayBuzz article, published yesterday: “2010 is the year of democracy and there will be a lot of attention on the local elections in the run up to October (and the elbowing for limelight, jousting over issues and the public colliding of personalities that inevitably go with it!).”

And as for “elbowing for limelight”, I noticed that occasional mayoral candidate Simon Nixon’s blog has recently sprung to life, with new articles on Venture Hawke’s Bay and — you guessed it — the airport!

Tom Belford

P.S. You can download and read a PDF version of the entire February BayBuzz Digest here.

Mayor Arnott, in a Pretty Good Year Ahead, paints the rosiest picture … it looks like clear sailing for the residents of Napier.

Mayor Yule, in The Year of Democracy, expects a more contentious year, with vexing issues on the Hastings agenda and heaps of political maneuvering by potential candidates.

Chairman Dick of the Regional Council, in Fighting for Survival, sees 2010 as a year for his Council to gain traction and move into action on key decisions made last year … for example, on clean-up of the Tukituki and Mohaka Rivers.

And in her Counterpoint column, Black and White, Anna Lorck carries the torch for amalgamation, applauds “cheerleader” Mayor Yule, and prods Mayor Arnott and Chairman Dick to get behind “a bigger and brighter regional future.”

So check out these articles for a preview of the political agenda for the year ahead.

Tom Belford