A BLUE ON TRACK

GOVERNMENTS have a default position for funding projects – tax the public.

Gold Coasters support plans to extend the light rail. What won’t please them though is any move to dump all costs at their doorstep. Talk from academics about “value sharing’’ schemes will appeal if the bill for future track construction is met by developers along the route. But since ratepayers are already paying a transport improvement levy, they will not be impressed if expected to carry the cost. Some might argue that the people living close to the track should be the ones to meet additional charges, but when many of them are ordinary wage earners, retirees or pensioners, councillors and MPs can expect a fight.