I thought this column would be a good opportunity to respond in a bit more detail to an issue raised on waste disposal, and to clarify the public forum process — because to have a healthy democracy we need to hear from people in the Clutha District.
The feedback I and councillors receive from the community is invaluable as we navigate multiple challenges from rate increases, investing in infrastructure to housing shortages, and living costs being at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
In addition, I recognise interactions during the forum can occasionally become emotional, particularly when people are passionate about the topics they are presenting.
My intention is always to maintain order while allowing residents to present their views and, granted, it is a short amount of time for people to speak. Even with the best intentions, running a council meeting can easily be delayed, and the forum on April 1 was a case where the time limit for speaking kept extending and became repetitious.
To encourage clarity and conciseness, and to ensure all speakers can share their thoughts, I’ll be a lot stricter on enforcing the time limit, to be fair to everyone. We’ll introduce a three-minute bell to let speakers know they are close to their five-minute speaking limit.
The public forum is open to anyone who wants to attend. They just need to register with the council first and the process will be explained, and speaking time will be kept to the agreed timeframe. For people who come to the forum, while they can present, it is not followed by asking direct questions of councillors.
The council accepts and records views at the public forum and, where we feel we need to, we will follow up with more information for speakers, to assist them with their queries later.
On the suggestion raised in the forum that council perhaps should not charge charities to dump waste, it’s important ratepayers and residents understand council operates as a not-for-profit entity.
The fees we charge for waste disposal, including dump fees, are strictly aligned with the actual costs required for operating the dump.
We are not here to serve to line our pockets, but to ensure that we can provide the necessary services sustainably and effectively for our community at their true cost.
No-one ever said democracy runs smoothly 100% of the time.
But I encourage people to keep coming to the forums. I’ll be here.
