NRC “RESILIENCE” PROJECTS - $600,000 handouts

 

The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has spent another $600,000 on 23 projects to “build resilience to the immediate and ongoing effects of climate change” and deliver “sustainable, innovative and equitable economy outcomes, meaningful partnerships with tāngata whenua, and healthy waters, land and air”.

The CEO says the council is “investing [in] what matters most, our people and local systems.”

Really? The feedback LETTERBOX has received is that what matters most to ratepayers is putting an end to the exorbitant rate increases! The NRC’s 33% rate increase in the last three years is among the highest in the country. Much of the increase has been spent on increasing staff numbers and funding resilience projects.

Candidate views on Maori wards & co-governance

Maori seats and co-governance have come in for attention during the campaign. To find out where each WDC candidate stands on these two issues, LETTERBOX has reviewed candidate campaign material or contacted candidates directly where their position is not mentioned.

We asked two simple questions:

• Do you support or oppose Maori wards? and

• Do you support or oppose co-governance?

Here are the results. 

Two candidates lead race for the mayoralty

A LETTERBOX poll shows Marie Olsen and Vince Cocurullo are the frontrunners in the WDC mayoralty race and puts newcomer Brad Flower ahead of Ken Couper and Fiona Green.

The tracking poll asks respondents to list the five candidates in order of preference, and the results are calculated using STV counting.