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Rodney Hide
Local Government minister Rodney Hide says he will be
"keeping an eye" on issues around Forsyth Barr Stadium, but he
will not be calling for a government inquiry.
Such an inquiry was sought by Stop the Stadium at a meeting
with Mr Hide in Dunedin yesterday.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Hide said he had not undertaken to
seek an inquiry, although he would be interested in
"following up" on issues raised.
He was fascinated by the issues becausethe council had
consulted and "on the face of it everyone is grumpy with the
result".
It was an illustration of how if the issue had been put to a
referendum, ratepayers could have decided whether to proceed.
Asked if it was now too late for a referendum, Mr Hide said
it was "never too late".
Mr Hide is working on a paper, due by the end of this year,
with changes he would like to the Local Government Act.
Issues raised with him regarding the existing Act included
the need for moderation by councils, consultation, unwieldy
and expensive audit processes and proper fiscal transparency.
He said he favoured the use of referendums, but rather than
ratepayers having to vote on a stream of them,
decision-making by voters on future spending by councils
could be done in conjunction with the three-yearly election
system.
Mr Hide has suggested councils should stick to their core
business, such as roading, water and sewerage services, but
said this did not mean he wanted a list of things they were
prohibited from doing.
Rather, if councils wanted to spend money on projects such as
a stadium or to take a greater role in societal issues such
as alcohol use, then they needed ratepayer approval.
Mr Hide held separate meetings with Dunedin City Council
representatives, Stop the Stadium and the Dunedin Ratepayers
and Householders Association yesterday.
The council representatives had expressed concern about
"consultation fatigue" and onerous central government
requirements, he said.
Stop the Stadium president Bev Butler said stadium issues had
caused Mr Hide to "raise his eyebrows a few times".
Ratepayers representatives were pleased with their reception
and expected to have further talks with Mr Hide.
What did you really expect?
You didn't need to be a clairvoyant to predict the outcome of these meetings.
Not to late but...
Yeah, it's not too late to have a referendum, but it is too late for it to achieve anything. It's a done deal in case no one has noticed the bulldozers at Awatea Street. To stop the project now would mean that almost 100 million has been spent for no result. The only thing a referendum would achieve now is adding more cost to the project.
not a done deal ...
We may have spent money but think about how much we would save if we stopped now, even of we've already spent $100m: we'll save over $100M, we'll won't have to buy Carisbrook, we won't have to reroute SH88, we can sell the land back (it cost $30M), we wont have to pay for financing on that $227M, we won't have to pay CST for their employees or the insurance cover they'll be billing us for - and we (the ratepayers) won't have to pay the extra 12.5% GST (another $27M) when we pay our rates to pay for it all. If we stop today, or even months from now we'll be ahead on the deal - so roll on a referendum - if the council really thinks it has the citizens' confidence on this issue they have nothing to worry about - personally I think they know they'll lose and are too scared to go to the citizens.
Typical politician
Avoidance at all costs. Be seen to be doing something, but actually do nothing; way to go Rodders. Isn't it about time we saved money by substantially reducing the number of these freeloaders in Wellington?
Lack of supervision
Mr Hide's behaviour can only be described as a 'spine-less cop-out'. Thanks for nothing, Rodney.
Mr Hide is correct
it is never too late for a referendum - let's have one
Yes, let's spend loads more
Yes, let's spend loads more money on a non-binding referendum which, by the time is organised and undertaken, the stadium will be built.
It will never happen
it is too late now.