The
seeds of a new, or perhaps reformed, association of
ratepayers were sown in Dunedin last night.
Thirteen people attended a meeting at Community House at
which it was decided to form a steering committee to discuss
the name and purpose of an organisation to function as a
council watchdog.
The meeting follows accusations the Dunedin Ratepayers and
Householders Association was defunct because it had failed to
hold an annual meeting for more than two years and to file
annual financial statements to the companies office.
Chairman Lyndon Weggery was accused by the association's
since-resigned secretary Neville Poole of being ''the
chairman of nothing''.
Last night's meeting was arranged and led by former
politician Dennis Dorney, who told those gathered, including
some who had been members of the association but were not
sure if they still were as they had had no communication for
some time, he called the meeting because the city had
hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, and apparently
nobody ''at all'' representing the public interest, ''so it
seems we should have something''.
Mr Weggery was not at the meeting although Mr Dorney said he
had invited him and understood he was coming.
For much of the meeting, the group debated whether a new
group completely separate from the Dunedin Ratepayers and
Householders' Association should be formed, or if the new
group should somehow become part of the existing group, to
take advantage of its incorporated society status.
In the end, it decided to form a steering committee to meet,
take suggestions and ideas from interested people and
investigate the scope and aims of the new group.
It was agreed local Greypower president Jo Millar, who was at
the meeting, would approach Mr Weggery to seek information
and documentation that might be useful.
Steering committee members are Mr Dorney, Diane Yeldon, Eli
Karen, Jan Wyllie, Warren Voight, Norm Gallop, Olive McRae
and Pete George.
Mr Weggery said, when contacted, the association had decided
to give the group space to talk among themselves. He was
pleased to hear they were thinking through the options, and
the association would be open to any overtures from the
group.
In the meantime, the association was operating as usual, he
said.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.