2352 days ago

RHODODENDRON LAWNS - VICTORY FOR THE PEOPLE OF HAMILTON

Rudi from Hamilton Lake

NEW ZEALAND - HAMILTON - THE PEOPLE PUSHING BACK, VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY

A swell of love for a lawn space has pushed back a decision on Hamilton Gardens redevelopments.

Plans to move a car park onto the site of the Rhododendron Lawn riled many gardens lovers, and concerned users such as the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival.

Hamilton City Council's idea was to create space for more themed gardens, a better entry point for the gardens and to ease traffic congestion on busy days.

But, after a groundswell of support for keeping the lawn where it is, city councillors have handed off the decision to the next council - to be elected in October.

There was a packed public gallery in council chambers on Thursday afternoon, when councillors were due to say yes, no, or not now to the plan.

Councillor Mark Bunting suggested delaying the decision so the community could have more time to have a say, and councillors voted 8-4 in support.

Earlier, they'd heard about concerns from Creative Waikato and the Hamilton Garden Arts Festival Trust, and that a later decision would simply slow down the start of the work.

Council would also have to talk to a potential sponsor to see if that would affect their interest in the project.

Those who voted against putting off the decision were Crs Ryan Hamilton, Garry Mallett, Rob Pascoe, and Leo Tooman.

Cr Paula Southgate had put in apologies for the meeting.

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

๐ŸŽ‰ Riddle me this, legends! ๐ŸŽ‰

The Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

He/She who makes it, sells it.
He/She who buys it, doesn't use it.
The user doesn't know they are using it.
What is it?

(Shezz from Ngฤruawฤhia kindly provided this head-scratcher ... thanks, Shezz!)

Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!

Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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4 days ago

Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? ๐Ÿ›ป๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿš“

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?

What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?

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If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? ๐Ÿ›ป๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿš“
  • 38.3% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
    38.3% Complete
  • 61.7% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
    61.7% Complete
752 votes
10 days ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.

Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, weโ€™re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.

For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.

Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature โ€” and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?

We hope this brings a smile!

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