Well, I’m stunned: 32,000 calls and service requests (SRs) to Council in the last year. SRs are customer calls (of all kinds). The biggest is Roading – just. In the last decade there were some 9,850 Roading calls. Road calls have declined in the last 5yrs by an average of some 220 per year. The read more »
Council and the King Country Energy Power Trust have released the report into The Lines Company’s electricity pricing, and its impacts, on Ruapehu and Turangi consumers. The report commissioned from NZIER is available on Council’s website home page. It outlines serious issues for the region to now deal with.
‘Waikato Times’ flagged Hamilton City, Thames, Waitomo and Ruapehu councils as ranked in the bottom 15% in NZ, in terms of poor financial performance. The analyst responsible for the ranking, Mr Larry Mitchell, concluded, ”I was very concerned councils would continue business as usual. They can’t continue to spend like there’s no tomorrow. Legally, what they can read more »
Local government talks a lot about being financially sustainable. More ‘league tables’ (‘Comparisons’, to you and I) are coming out rating councils. A recent one said that some of this region’s councils were the most unsustainable in NZ. Ruapehu wasn’t amongst that list, but it got us looking again at our position. The attached picture read more »
Following the release of a recent BERL Report, Marcus Lush interviewed me on Radio Live as Ruapehu emerged from the BERL economic analysis as the ‘worst’ performing economy in NZ. You can listen to the podcast by logging onto Radio Live / ‘Audio’ tab / Thursday 7.45 slot). Following is my read on the BERL read more »
Christchurch and Tokyo have been distressing moments for each of us personally. Councils, such as Ruapehu, are reviewing their policies regarding Buildings and Earthquake Standards. The formal discussion here highlighted the need for maintaining public safety and confidence in buildings people enter and trust as ‘safe’, and also the need to move forward in a sensible way mindful read more »
I watch the lawn mowing contractor in orange overalls out my window – stopped, and quietly observing the silence which is punctuated by church bells. 2 minutes silence for Christchurch; a flag at perpetual half-mast. ANZAC, and yet not. At the very human level, the generosity and depth of feeling from the people of Ruapehu read more »
Ruapehu District Council extends its deepest condolences and support to the people of Christchurch. We are backing this sentiment by initiating a Ruapehu appeal through a Council line which will be advertised by the end of the day.
Should holiday home owners renting their places out occasionally during the year be rated for commercial rates? Ruapehu motels say “Yes”. These homes are in competition with Motels but don’t pay commercial rates, and don’t meet regulatory requirements over a certain number of people in the house. 25% of our unoccupied (mainly holiday) houses are being advertised for read more »
Council is renewing its ‘Zero Tolerance for Graffiti Strategy’ (2008). The community forums were both asked, “What does zero tolerance mean to you, and are we delivering it?” Thankfully graffiti is not at the problem levels that many communities face. People in this District are good about living in and respecting a beautiful environment. But, read more »