Bill Dalton

There are times in your life when you have got to get up on your hind legs and stand your ground. And I absolutely support those Flaxmere residents who are saying “We don’t want a Department of Corrections facility in the middle of our community.”

Let’s be honest about it. Despite the fact that the Department of Corrections call these people clients, they are criminals. And they are recidivist criminals. You don’t get PD for a first offence. Why should these criminals be encouraged to congregate in the middle of a good suburb like Flaxmere?

It appears that the Department of Corrections has a policy of bringing their undesirable clients to the centre of a community near you. They have just decided to open one of their “client service centres” – in the centre of Gisborne. The local Government there turned down the application but of course the Department took it to the Environment Court. The Department has unlimited financial resources so, of course they won. Just as they will in Flaxmere.

In Napier we have the same problem. I must declare an interest in the Napier situation because I own property next door to the proposed centre. The Napier “drop in centre” for the dross of our society is planned for Taradale Road, one of the main arterial routes into the Napier CBD. In what way, I ask, does such a centre belong in a light industrial area, with residential property on the other side of the street? It gets worse. The residents on the other side of the street were not even accorded the status of being affected parties. How could they possibly not be affected?

The access and egress to local businesses has largely been ignored. It seems no one cares that congestion, lack of parking and an inability to bring supplies to established business will dramatically damage the very comfortable relationship between light industry on one side of the road and pleasant residences on the other.

Or do those who control such matters on a local level know, that us poor locals don’t have the resources to take on, in the Environment Court, a Government Department more interested in serving their clients, the local criminal fraternity, then they are in protecting the law abiding businesses and residential locals.

Frankly it makes me sick in the guts to find in this wonderful country of ours, that the law breakers and those charged with the responsibility of attending to them, get more consideration than those of us who go about our day in a lawful and peaceful manner.

I have just returned from a marathon informal council meeting. I know the Napier City Council is known for having reasonably short meetings and there is a good reason for that – we are efficient. Over the years I have spent a significant part of my time serving my community on a variety of committees, boards, trusts and councils. And I have to say that the current Napier City Council is one of the most efficient groups I have served.

Sure we don’t always agree. Sure we argue at times. But almost always, we are discussing the issue not the personalities. And that is the difference between this council and previous councils of which I have been most critical. We discuss the issues not the people who have an opinion on these issues. The distinction is most important.

Today we discussed a variety of issues – all of which are important to the future of our city and our region. And one of the things we discussed was the amalgamation of our local authorities. And frankly I am sick and tired of the absolute codswallop that is being spoken on this issue.

In terms of members of the three local councils, opinions are generally divided into three groups:

1. Those for amalgamation.
2. Those against amalgamation
3. And the majority – those who believe if they keep their heads below the parapets they won’t get them shot off.

I have always made my position 100% clear on amalgamation. I believe it is inevitable but it should be an evolutionary thing not a revolutionary thing.

Napier and Hastings (and the regional council) do not need a shotgun marriage which will create resentment and bitterness.

We need to work collaboratively with a view to reaching a point where we say either:

Yes we have extracted all the efficiencies we can from the system so let’s continue with the local representation that has served us well for decades or:
Now we are working so well together we might as well consummate the marriage and merge the local entities.

Whatever the decision, the decision making process will not be well served by those prepared to pluck ridiculous figures out of the air to further their own political ambitions.

An old mate of mine died recently and we have been helping his widow sort a few things out.

Bernie was a hoarder. Bernie never threw anything out.

Amongst some of the boxes of stored information I found a guide to Napier’s Scenic drive. I am guessing at the year it was produced but it looks like about 1962. The publication tells us that Napier had a population of 27,200.

We are told that Napier is one of New Zealand’s famous holiday resorts. That it is renowned for its sunshine, its magnificent Marine Parade, its stately pines and palms, flowering gardens, parklands and spectacular illuminations.

And you know, in those days, about 50 years ago, that’s what people wanted in a holiday destination. A nice environment in which to have fun. A nice safe environment in which the kids could make their own fun.

These days we expect that entertainment will be provided for us. We have lost the art of enjoying good company and surroundings and simply entertaining ourselves.

When I was a kid we used to go to places like Eskdale Park on a Sunday afternoon and have fun. Several families would meet there and we would have impromptu games of cricket or rugby or soccer, or bulrush. Mum would take a picnic afternoon tea and plenty of cold cordial for the kids. If it was hot we would swim in the Esk River.

Sometimes we would go to Westshore Beach and build sandcastles and swim.  And if we were lucky, we might get fish and chips on the way home. Do you remember? – 5 bobs worth of fish and chips would be 10 bits of fish and plenty of chips. Enough to feed a family of 6 easily.

Now expectations of holiday destinations are much greater. Vacationers want holiday programmes for their kids, they want theme parks, they want organised entertainment and they want sophisticated restaurants to dine in.

Napier rightly still regards itself as a holiday destination. We have plenty to offer adult vacationers in terms of wineries, bars and restaurants, shopping and the “café” culture. What we need to do is to find things for the kids to do.  Westshore beach is gone, the Olympic pool is gone and Marineland is gone. So we have a real challenge on our hands to make Napier an attractive destination for kids.

We need to develop an entertaining use of the Marineland site – if you have got any bright ideas on that please let me know.

In the meantime, wouldn’t it be great if we could encourage youngsters to make their own fun just as we did all those years ago.