CONGRATULATIONS NOEL
Te Kai Whakarongo 21 May, 2024 | Proudly locally owned and operated Issue 1106 Circulation 9000
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CONNECTING COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COROMANDEL PENINSULA
All options for Cathedral Cove fix from DOC
Hahei Residents of one mind on Mautohe Cathedral Cove track fix. (See page 17)
SEE PAGE 12
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Images taken off DOC’s website
Hahei Residents & Ratepayers united on option 2A
GIN Tasting
MONDAY 10 JUNE 6.30PM
(07) 866 2090 info@theinformer.co.nz
UNIFIED AND STRONG MESSAGE FROM RESIDENTS AND RATE PAYERS
“T
his meeting was the first one that to a person sitting around that table, we were all of one mind.” These were the words of Tony Fox speaking about what had happened at a very different kind of meeting on Saturday, 11 May. Tony is a former TCDC Councillor and Community Board member now serving as a volunteer on the Whitianga Residents and Ratepayers (WRRA). Let’s go back a little in time. Earlier this year, representatives of Residents and Ratepayers Associations on the Coromandel Peninsula had met to test out the viability of the associations working together on matters of district interest. The result of this was seventeen associations agreed to support this Alliance concept. That Alliance met with our Mayor, Len Salt and eight councillors in late March in the council chambers in Thames to discuss common concerns pertaining to rate-
Four Pillars Gin Tasting and Dinner Evening
payers across the Peninsula. Seventeen Associations were represented. The issue in the words of Rob Boston, of Pauanui Residents and Ratepayers; “Collectively, we have concerns on matters which impact on the work we voluntarily undertake within our own communities.” On Saturday, 11 May, a second meeting of the Alliance was held, but this time just the chairs and or leaders of the Ratepayers Associations and it was held in the Whitianga community boardroom of the Council. Ten associations were represented. Media were invited but through some misunderstanding, did not get a clear message. But never mind, the meeting was effective in terms of what Tony Fox described at the beginning of this article. The meeting on 11 May reflected broad agreement that better consultation and communication is required between council and the residents and ratepayers’ groups.
ONE VOICE With that the Alliance is requesting four things of the council as one voice: 1. T he reintroduction of the community empowerment model covering both operational and fiscal matters – this enabling decision making at the community level by community boards. (Community boards have no teeth and have been disempowered.) 2. The council’s primary focus be on core services – roading, waste and water – not social services. 3. Council undertakes genuine and proactive community consultation underpinned by transparent communication on matters relating to local communities. 4. The development and enablement of an economic growth policy for the Coromandel Peninsula (that can be understood by the people.) Continued on page 2
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The Coromandel Informer – 21 May 2024 | 1