Well, at least it is a new year. The ‘‘happy’’ is subjective.
Midnight on December 31 does not promise a magical undoing of the sad and bad that’s already happened, and 2026 is promising to be more of the same old, same old.
Social media was unhappy with the Waitaki District Council not organising a celebratory send-off for 2025. So, it’s appropriate to discuss what council could be responsible for in the spirit of community pride.
There’s several possibilities: Waitangi weekend, A&P shows (district-wide), Anniversary Day observance, the jazz festival, Easter weekend, Anzac Day services, Steampunk weekend (including the parade), Guy Fawkes night, Victorian heritage celebrations (also with a parade), the Christmas parade, and culminating with New Year’s Eve. And there could be more.
Most of these events are handled by willing teams of volunteers, sometimes co-ordinated by a commercial event planner, sometimes with a formal committee.
There are many ticketed events to ensure the financial viability of some celebrations; some rely on voluntary public donations, but a few can still run on the smell of an oily rag.
However, any event that involves a street parade immediately has the major expense of traffic management control.
Gone are the days of "she’ll be right" and the No 8 wire mentality. Everything requires screeds of paperwork demanded by an ever-increasing bureaucracy which is putting pressure on a dwindling pool of tiring volunteers. And it looks like the halcyon days will never return.
But what defines a community event? The council needs to examine carefully why the public purse should be opened to significantly prop up any said event.
Steampunk and Victorian celebrations have a specialised focus and are for a small part of the Waitaki district community, but they do attract outside visitors, and their associated expenditure, particularly when using our accommodation providers, is substantial.
Maybe there’s two sides to any event: the council can consider the commercial pay-off before investing; or it can weigh up the community wellbeing payoff. Not much of a real income though.
So let’s look at how a New Year’s Eve celebration organised and funded by our council stacks up as a good thing to do. Discussion has already taken place raising the issue that there is a limited number attending, so should we spend council money for a few local people?
And why specifically December 31? What about other small sections of our community?
There’s Chinese New Year in February, Matariki in July, and although not specifically the new year, there’s Diwali, a Festival of Light and new beginnings in November.
These events relevant to a small section of the community are better dealt with by committees of like-minded volunteers and should not use council resources, neither monetary nor personnel.
Of course, there are exceptions. It could be argued that council consultations on annual plans are for the small group of dedicated followers of council policy and they are expensive. But fortunately, legislative controls will ensure that these do not cease.
I’m looking forward to a very busy year of local body interaction. Don’t be afraid to step up too, especially in this election year.
