Now, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has written to local councils raising concerns about the continued use of RCP8.5. He said, "...the Government does not consider it appropriate for worst-case assumptions to become the default basis for investment decisions that impose significant costs on current and future ratepayers."
The proposal, championed as a vision to transform John Street into a one-way "destination street", was unanimously rejected at a meeting of local business owners. They described it as a "terrible idea", disconnected from the realities facing a struggling city centre.
The proposal now before councillors stems
from recommendations arising from a “Te Tiriti o Waitangi health check.” As
reported in LETTERBOX #30, the audit was commissioned by the council’s Māori
Outcomes Department without the knowledge or prior approval from councillors, for
$77,293 funded from “spare” money.
The stated purpose of the Treaty of Waitangi “health check” was to help councillors better understand their “obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga,” assess the state of relations between the council and Māori, and provide recommendations for improvement.
We question the value of removing carparks to create a pedestrian corridor when the core issue in the CBD is a shortage of car-parking and a lack of pedestrians.
At the time, Cr McKenzie (now Deputy Mayor)
said Whangārei needed T2 because Auckland and Wellington have them, and it
“provided interesting and innovative public transport options.”
The Whangārei District Council (WDC) website is a little more specific. It says: “The T2 transit lane helps to keep Whangārei moving, reducing congestion and improving travel times by separating buses and vehicles with more than one occupant.”
LETTERBOX suggested that if the WDC is serious about attracting people back into the city, it could start with two hours of free parking across the entire CBD during normal business hours, and unrestricted parking outside those hours.
STV was used for the first time in last year’s local body election after the previous council voted by a narrow majority to change from FPP. They did so without consulting the public.
Cr Marie Olsen took the view that this needed to be corrected and moved a motion in two parts. The first was for FPP to be reinstated for the 2028 election. She was supported by Crs Baldwin, Martin, M Yovich, P Yovich, Reid, and Flower. Against were Mayor Couper (casting vote), and Crs McKenzie, Baker, Connop, Christie, Harding, and Ruka. The second part of the motion, to hold a referendum in 2028, was carried unanimously
In the interests of introducing some fact to their fiction, LETTERBOX asked the WDC how much it cost to hold the Maori wards referendum run at the time of the local body election last October. Here’s their reply:
“The additional poll cost amounted to $13,401 + GST for 67,004 electors @ $0.20 + GST per elector.”
Half of this was for the additional information included with the voting mailer and the share of the public notices cost. The other half was for the additional labour involved. The cost does not include postage and other costs that would have been incurred for the local body election anyway.
Is $13,000 to poll all 67,000 electors too much to pay for people to have their say? It seems like good value when compared to the $18,200 the WDC spent last year surveying 500 people about fluoride!
To find out how the WDC compared, LETTERBOX asked the WDC for details about its open competitive process. Here’s their reply:
“I refer to your request…for statistics on procurement contracts for the 2024/2025 Financial Year….Council does not hold the information requested… I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your request.”
It is astounding that the Council does not know how many contracts it has awarded without an open competitive process. Surely that is something they should know, and more importantly, something councillors ought to know if they are at all interested in how efficiently ratepayer money is being spent.
Mayor Couper says the public can have their say about the closure during the Annual Plan submissions. We think Ken should have thought about the public BEFORE the decision was made to close, and AFTER the council had completed the cost review. Ken and councillors may find other areas for saving with less impact on families, students, and vulnerable groups.
1% is a very low bar. Case studies suggest reviews typically achieve spending reductions of between 2% and 5%, which points to savings of between $3m and $8m for the WDC, not $1 million. The review itself is expected to cost up to $100,000 in consultancy fees, which is ridiculous when LETTERBOX is aware that some well-qualified locals would donate their time as a community service.
• A 22.6% increase in water rates,
• A general rate increase by between 5% and 10.1%, depending on which of the three options they choose, • A 2.6% increase in wastewater charges, and
• Increasing the stormwater rate (which they introduced last year) from $45 to $124 a year.
The 22.6% water rate increase is in stark contrast to a statement made in the 2025-26 Annual Plan, where it said an increase of 5.7% would provide enough funding for good management as well as increasing capacity for growth. What’s changed? Mayor Couper needs to explain. Is it because of Northland Water Done Well?
Whangarei has a new mayor and six
new faces around the council table. In a close race for the mayoralty, two-term
councillor Ken Couper beat the incumbent Vince Cocurullo by 435 votes.
In the Urban Ward, Marie Olsen topped the voting and is joined by newcomer Brad Flower, re-elected councillors Nic Connop and Paul Yovich, and Crichton Christie, who is returning as a councillor after a six-year absence. Carol Peters lost her seat, as did Jayne Golightly.
The tracking poll asks respondents to list the five candidates in order of preference, and the results are calculated using STV counting.
Two voting
systems are used to elect local councillors and mayors: FPP and STV.
In FPP, voters tick the candidate of their choice, or candidates if one or more councillors are elected from that ward/constituency. It’s what is used in the general election, and by 54 of the 66 councils in New Zealand.
When asked, who is driving the woke agenda within the council, he replied, “A group of seven who are working together: Deb Harding, Scott McKenzie, Nicholas Connop, Patrick Holmes, Phoenix Ruka, Carol Peters, and Ken Couper…Because we have that woke block at the top, every time it gets hard, they take the soft option.”
“The message from our community is
clear: rate increases must be affordable, fair and justifiable.”
This certainly is the message the community is giving and has been giving for some time. The difficulty we have is reconciling Ken’s words with his voting record. In 2024 Ken voted for a 10.9% rate increase and another 17.2% increase in 2025. This is despite 87% of the public who submitted to the 2025 Annual Plan opposing the increase. Most suggested 6% was affordable, fair, and justifiable.
“As the 2023–2024 financial year drew to a close,
unallocated funds across the Māori Outcomes and Te Kārearea cost centres was
identified. To ensure this funding was not lost, and in acknowledgement of the
longstanding calls from hapū for this work, Māori Outcomes initiated the
audit.” (Page 26.)
In response to an Official Information request, the WDC has advised $77,293 has been spent on the audit to date, and confirmed the spending was done without obtaining the approval of councillors.