Cr Ravings
In a column in the Napier Mail a Napier City Councillor writes a somewhat confusing rant about the Council owning land assets that make it a great property developer and investor .He suggests that the cash flow from the Parklands development is soon to become positive.This income will then be used to develop a proposed industrial park of some 80 ha! He then links the likely income from all this land ownership to ‘futureproofing ‘ the city from the ‘rates dependency trap’ whatever that means.
While it is nice to have an income stream it would still need to be made clear that rates will still be collected and council would have to be clear about who pays for what. There are some who would say that the council should not be in the property game at all.Stick to your knitting.
At the same time we see statements from others saying Napier and Hastings Councils are working together over planning. Why is it that Hastings is planning industrial development on prime land when Napier has supposedly 80 acres available as well as a large area at Awatoto . It must be a better option to use the less productive Napier option and save the best for the future or is that woolly thinking.
