Amalgamate Or Pay A High Price
It's come around again - the Wellington Super City scheme or the Hutt Valley Not So Super City and Wellington City-Porirua-Kapiti Not So Super City alternatives.
Auckland amalgamated its seven councils into a single unit in 2009 and there was a concerted effort to do likewise for the Wellington region in 2015.
We have gotten over the Auckland shock where a lot of people had considered it a kind of failure to now when it has been deemed a substantive success. The chief finance person in the Auckland CC said in 2019, amalgamation had saved Auckland ratepayers two billion dollars. And judging from that the current savings would be around three billion dollars.
Most people living in other parts of our region have strong links to Wellington city. In so many ways I feel proudly bound to Wellington even though I have never lived there past a few days since my first year at college. So the city of Central Government and of Government departments and housing most of the things that attract me from outside the boundaries of my home, presents no problem to me in being part of a Wellington Super City: second largest city In NZ and 500,000-strong and takings the learnings from the Auckland model to not make their initial mistakes and errors of judgement.
Poll: Is the increase in disability parking fines fair?
In October, the fine for parking in a designated mobility car park without a permit has jumped from $150 to $750—a 400% increase!
The goal is to keep these spaces open for those who truly need them. Do you think this big increase in the fine is fair? Share your thoughts below.
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89.4% Yes, it's fair
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9.8% No, it's unreasonable
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0.8% Other - I'll share below
THE POST FOREGOES ITS OWN TEAM
Wellington Lions (men's provincial rugby rep team) brilliantly won the Bunnings NPC last Saturday but The Post (Wellington's daily newspaper) has done absolutely no follow-up article/story in the days following the brief report on the Monday edition.
In fact the Auckland-based NZ Herald carried much more surrounding Wellington's success.
What use is this Wellington newspaper - the "great" amalgamated successor of the Dominion and The Evening Post which had presented a Trump-like lie in stating it was going to to be twice as good and as large as either of the two newspapers it derived from and with a smorgasbord of journalists.
Today it is a limp, dwindling, sometimes delivered soggy cut-down-to-comic-size newspaper that cannot even capture the essence of a stunning sports win by an outstanding team of Super Rugby and All Black quality players within its realm of distribution.
Do you recognise any of these bikes? 🚲
Wellington Police have recently recovered eight bikes and would like to reunite them with their owners.
If you believe one is yours, head to the Wellington Police Station to retrieve your property. Make sure to bring either a proof of purchase or serial number to prove ownership.
To have a proper look, click on any image to enlarge it.