To cyclists, you simply must have a rear view mirror and use it often. Make yourself visible, keep well to the left and understand that in the event of a vehicle versus bike it is you who will be injured or worse.
To the tiny minority of appalling drivers with an attitude problem, please, drop the attitude, your ego and your phones.
To the minority of drivers who have little understanding of the width of their vehicle and that your offside wing mirror protrudes some 20cm beyond that, you frighten the hell out of us as you accelerate past within easy touching distance. Please, think about it and if in doubt ease off the right foot and allow a wider safety margin.
To the majority of drivers who are considerate of other road users and give cyclists at least 1.5m of clearance, a big thank you as it is greatly appreciated by all.
RATES HIKE WILL KILL FARMING, TOURISM
The three tombstones on the front page of your successful local newspaper were apparently appropriate for the state of this lovely district’s economy.
The words support and sustainability were obviously penned by council management who are totally unaware of the old adage "you never kill the geese who lay the golden eggs".
Rates increases like these will kill most North Otago farm and tourist businesses.
In our day, Cr Bill Fraser took the problem back to management.
Council support came in the form of the policy of "when it [water main] blows we renew it, we won’t demand all obsolescence be fixed now."
When possible planned maintenance inched forward.
In the latter part of last century both Greece and Ireland saved their countries by instituting austerity measures instead of borrowing more from the European Bank. It hurts, but it worked.
CONSULTATION SURPRISING
It is most surprising that this consultation on rate rise options is even being considered by the council.
Is it not obvious that there is a tsunami of repercussions coming from the war in the Middle East?
We need the lowest possible rate rise in line with the seriousness of the crisis, as we don’t know when "business as usual" will resume, if ever.
Oil and food price spikes mean that nothing but the most basic and necessary of services must be expected from the council until something resembling "normal" resumes.
It is also obvious however that the national government must consider increasing funding to local councils and we must put pressure on them for this during this election year.
The bottom line is — we don’t live in a vacuum.
NOTHING HAS CHANGED
Regrettably nothing has changed at Waitaki District Council with the recent change of mayor.
Despite widespread concerns expressed at the last election that a "back to basics" overhaul was overdue, the council simply continues to spend their time wringing their hands over how to sell overburdened ratepayers another unjustified massive rates increase.
While the writer is not privy to the detail, it appears that something like 10% of ratepayers are already claiming hardship, with central government picking up the tab. This is shocking and will result in more pressure on businesses who may not be able to access that relief.
This will in turn lead to more empty shops.
Waitaki District Council response to rates letters:
While in the past councils had full discretion to delay, defer, do reactive repairs, or inch forward with maintenance, we are now bound by the Water Services Authority to upgrade to tight timelines, with financial penalties for non-compliance. Infrastructure has been underfunded for decades across the country, and the gap between what needs to be done and what it costs to do it, is a challenge for all councils.
We agree that council does not exist in a vacuum. There have been inflationary pressures throughout the last six-years, and council absorbed much of them to keep rates low — but this is no longer sustainable. The 2026 pressure on fuel, power and materials has hit council particularly hard — with some projected increases of 30% for the basics — roads and pipes, for the next financial year. Central government has placed increasing unfunded responsibilities on councils in the last few decades, with Waitaki’s ratepayers picking up the tab for the ideas formulated in Wellington.
The rates rebate scheme was introduced in 1973, and eligibility was expanded last year by the government in recognition of the cost pressures councils are under to deliver services. We have had more applicants than in past years thanks to this expansion, and we firmly encourage everyone who believes they may be eligible to apply this financial year for a rebate, and to apply again after July 1.
This is not a solution, but ensuring everyone who is eligible to receive a rebate from the government gets what they are entitled to is important.
GARDENS AVIARIES
Further to my letter to the editor on April 24 about the proposed demolition of the town’s aviaries.
I also sent an email to the council expressing my concern and offering to personally undertake to water blast and repaint the exterior of one of the aviaries at my cost and suggested that a local organisation might be keen to get involved to do up the interior which would be a good project that would benefit Oamaru.
It is sad to think that once the two aviaries are demolished a new aviary will never be reinstated.
