This question has arisen during the campaign.  As those who drive into Waikanae from the south are aware, the old sign is still there.

If there had been a proper Council webpage for the Waikanae Community Board, as Geoffrey proposes, the issue could have been decided by popular vote in the first place.

However, it wasn’t and a winner was announced by the WCB members.

Our reaction to the winning entry (shown) was one of misgiving, but we didn’t express a firm view either for or against it.  Our main concern was the cost of it — $43,000 versus probably no more than a tenth of that for four of the conventional sign type.

On the Destination Waikanae Facebook page, Norma McCallum states “Have heard that the signs will go up after Christmas!”

Thus it seems to be a fait accompli.  The lesson, as we and others have said, is that from now on decisions must result from a democratic community process, not from the whims of cliques.

1.       Immediately I will convene an informal meeting of the new Community Board to discuss matters that need to be acted upon with a sharing of responsibilities for different tasks.  Also to see if there is agreement for an increase in the number of scheduled meetings in 2017 from 8 to 12, including at least 1 at the beach community hall.

2.       Arrange via the Community Board to get the ‘barcode bridge’ –- the rail bridge over SH1 — steam cleaned for the first time in decades.

3.       Seek agreement from the new council to immediately initiate ‘Operation Fat Removal’ from the KCDC budget with a thorough investigation and audit of all areas of council spending

4.       Seek to have council’s instruction to CEO Dougherty to withdraw the defence of the Environment Court challenge by the Coastal Ratepayers United group to save yet more wasted money on unnecessary litigation.

5.       Seek to have the council instruct the CEO to have designed a better council website.

6.       Have the council instruct the CEO to put a page on the new website for each community board (Otaki, Waikanae, Paraparaumu and Paekakariki) where agendas and minutes are placed, also council briefing papers relating to each area; with a link button for each on the main homepage.

7.       Organise a less formal Facebook page for the WCB where photos and community comment are placed.

8.      Seek agreement from the council to immediately investigate design and costings of a dam on the Waikanae River for a water reservoir.

9.       Get agreement from the council to investigate the design and cost of an underpass to replace the railway level crossing at Elizabeth Street in Waikanae.

10.      Have the council instruct the CEO that effective immediately all media releases issued by him are to be:

a.       Completely factual, useful and not omit relevant facts

b.      Devoid of praise of previous council decisions or council members

11.      Have the council instruct the CEO that all documents produced by his “communications team” are henceforth to be:

a.       Concise

b.      Written in plain English and be comprehensible by a lay person

c.       Have indexes

d.      Devoid of ‘weasel words’,

e.      Devoid of praise for previous council decisions

12.      Have the council instruct the CEO that immediately all qualified suppliers within the Kapiti Coast District for council contracts be invited to tender for them.

13.      Have the council instruct the CEO that records are to be properly kept in accordance with the provisions of the Public Records Act 2005.

14.   Persuade the other councillors to scrap the volumetric water charges; in time for the council’s next financial year beginning 1 July 2017, this would mean an end to the administrative time and cost of separate water bills.  There is no guarantee that there will be a majority in favour, at least to begin with, but there will be 8 months.

The above aren’t all inclusive, but are the main things that I have campaigned on. #3 will determine a lot more things that need to be done to save Ratepayers’ money.

“The Great Community Clean Up kicks off next week – a chance to show your neighbourhood a little love by getting out and about in your community to give it a bit of a clean up. A Clean Up event doesn’t have to be anything big; just picking up rubbish on your street is great! Plus there’s 10 x $100 The Warehouse Gift Cards up for grabs – just for registering an event.”

Find out more and register your event now.

The Kapiti Coast District Council should stop playing games and start embracing public participation and transparency, according to Paekakariki-Raumati Ward candidate Guy Burns.

“Like many Kapiti Coasters, I’m horrified at the nonsense that goes in at our Council meetings,” Mr Burns said today. “The latest fiasco occurred when Council called Police to remove a member of the public from the Council chambers on Thursday 29 September because he wanted to record part of the Council meeting [see previous post].

“Council sessions are broadcast live on the Internet, and media representatives are often there with tape recorders, so it’s really unclear why such a big deal was made about this. It’s time for Councillors to be more accepting of public participation and embrace transparency.

“All too often, the focus of our Council is on how to keep the public out of decision-making, and how to dodge accountability. If I am elected this October, I pledge that I will to improve transparency and public participation in the work of Council.”

For further information, please contact:

Guy Burns

021 262 4645

Dougherty, second from right, seems pleased with himself.

Just got a call from someone at the council:

A ratepayer spent hours waiting to have his three minutes say. Finally he stood at the rostrum and said he would be recording what he says. The Mayor objected, but the ratepayer said he would not turn off his recorder. The security guard was called, the chamber emptied, but the ratepayer wouldn’t leave, and said he had a right to be there. Two police were called. Then another two, with Dougherty ranting about the ratepayer going to be trespassed, as is the custom of this jumped up petty tyrant.

Again these sniveling, gutless bastards have shown themselves to be at war with Kapiti ratepayers, ganging up on a lone individual who sought three minutes worth after waiting hours. He didn’t even get a chance to say what the subject was.

Joel Maxwell [of the Kapiti Observer] showed up, but whether this will be reported is another matter. [It has been, the link is here]

It seems fitting that the final meeting for this dysfunctional council ended in this manner.

–Kerry

Kapiti voters can get rid of Ross Church with a simple number “6” on their ballot paper like he got from us.  That can’t be done with Dougherty, unfortunately. However, the provisions in his contract with the council is something that the next council needs to look at.  [-Eds]

The way it looked before was one of Waikanae beautification stalwart Norma McCallum’s long time pet grieves, but in the last few weeks this new mural for CJ’s fish has replaced it and it’s certainly an improvement.  We noticed that the fish ornament above the awning would benefit from some rust remover/touch up paint.

We’ll try to get a better picture of it when the fences are removed.

The total pageviews for the whole of last year was 3,882 so we are heading for a fourfold increase on that for the whole of this year.

By far the biggest number of hits are on posts relating to developments pursuant to the Expressway.  There is a lot of developer interest in the beach area — but that is not where it is wanted.

About 12% of views come from other countries — the USA, Australia and the UK we can understand, but interest from places like Brazil, Singapore, Qatar, India, Indonesia…?

Oil on board, 22 x 34.5 cm, by Evelyn Page (1899-1993)