hawkesbaycouncilwatch

The Dominion had coverage of a somewhat hopeful story suggesting the Regional Council buy into the Napier Airport.This is a different angle on the extension and it looks like the airport is becoming the whipping boy in Hawkes Bay. The Regional Council has the same ratepayers as the Hastings and Napier Councils so why on earth would the RC want to put itself in a somewhat political pot , primed for future arguing between councils  over expenditure privatising etc.

The RC has major responsibilities in other areas such as wastewater in townships and would be better off  taking care of its environmental responsibilities .

The story is hopeful given that the Government has made it quite clear on more than one occasion that the 50% they own will be used in settlement of a claim by Ngati Kahungunu   .That will take  years to sort out so why even start down the track?

On  Friday the Local Government Minister, Mark Burton was due to receive the reccommendations from the panel set up to look at options for funding local government. He is going to repond to this report in the next two weeks.

Meerkat can’t wait to see the response.