Te Kai Whakarongo Issue 1222 | 11 August 2026 | Proudly locally owned and operated
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CONNECTING COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COROMANDEL PENINSULA
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Every Wednesday night from 5pm Pork, lamb, chicken or beef Buffet salad and sauce bar Bookings recommended
Local Democracy Sold Down the Line:
MBAS First 15 Coulter Cup Winners See page 28
TCDC Opts for Minority Voice in Merged Council. BY GEOFFREY ROBINSON
I
The three Mayors signing the MOU – Toby Adams – Hauraki, Peter Revell – Thames-Coromandel, Ash Tanner – Matamata-Piako.
n a staggering display of political naiveté, lack of business acumen, fear, wishful thinking, and failure to heed flashing warning signs brightly, a divided TCDC Council sold out its communities last week by signing on to a half-baked and defective – but binding – amalgamation deal with two other districts coming away as grinning winners. Just like the hapless oysters of Walrus and the Carpenter renown, a halting and submissive Mayor Peter Revell and six Council adherents walked headlong into a longterm democratic disaster of their own making, willingly consigning their district to a minority position in an expanded subregional council, surrendering its political autonomy, and gifting away control over
local peninsula government for decades to come. Only four counsellors stood up for strong local democracy.
NO GUARANTEED BENEFITS: A LOSING PROPOSITION By identical 7-4 votes, the Council first agreed to submit a Head Start amalgamation proposal to the government. Then, it rubber-stamped the terms of a threeway agreement with Hauraki and Matamata-Piako districts that had been negotiated in secret during July, strictly withheld from public scrutiny or comment, and unveiled at the last minute as a done-deal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed and sealed by the three mayors just hours later. Continued on page 7
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