See the earlier post on creative bus stop shelters.

The centre recently bought this property which is not far from the beach and plans a satellite clinic here. On the face of it, a good idea, but not all locals are happy.  The flyer for a meeting this Sunday on the subject and other possible commercial operations at the beach is here.

The boss of the KCDC, chief executive Pat Dougherty, has had an increase in his pay taking it to $300,430 a year. In 2012 an increase he received of $44,000 a year was labelled excessive and irresponsible, and received national media attention.

According to Statistics NZ, the average weekly NZ income from wages and salaries in June last year was $991.

Frankly, savings could and should be made in the impost on ratepayers by cutting the boss’s pay back by at least $100,000 a year. which is still four times the average for everybody in the country.  Mr Dougherty presently gets paid more than the District’s 10 elected councilors combined.

Above is a postcard from about 30 years ago showing the Waikanae Beach which is in the heart of Gisborne.  The Norfolk Pines are a feature of it.  The two lower pictures show the Holiday Park there.

These roses – which look quite straggled – and the gardens generally next to the Waikanae railway station could benefit from the attentions of a good gardener.

Yesterday I spoke to both Jean Kahui and Quentin Poole about whether either intended to stand for this vacancy, as the the ideal would be to have a candidate elected unopposed to avoid the $35,000 ratepayer cost of a by-election.  Legally a by-election is required as the next general election in October 2013 is more than 12 months away.

I would be willing to serve on this until the next general election in October next year.  Neither Jean nor Quentin sounded enthusiastic about being on this board, but Quentin said he would let me know.

We need to try to avoid unnecessary costs for ratepayers, as far too much has been wasted by the present council.

Although we are strong on native trees, we aren’t religious about that, and have planted a few deciduous red acer or maples with conifers after seeing a few Japanese gardens here and overseas.

The official by-election result released by the KCDC was –

Michael Scott: 1789
Quentin Poole: 1620
Geoffrey Churchman: 728
Jean Kahui: 525
Wynn Ingram: 321

The above figures include distribution of preferences as no-one got more than 50% of first preferences.

Jean Kahui had an almost identical platform to myself; but the differences between candidates generally seemed to be more ones of emphasis than substance.  The two most controversial issues for Waikanae people – the Expressway and water meters – are done, and the regional amalgamation issue affects everybody in the region.

As mentioned in the first post, I plan to keep posting to this blog at least weekly.

Geoffrey Churchman

Looking south from a vantage point in Weggery Street; a nearby interpretation board gives some history.  The Waikanae River is further back with the mini-suburb (of Paraparaumu) of Otaihanga in the background.