Election wash-up

Well another election done and dusted and we now await the final numbers and a whole lot of horse trading to see what beast emerges.

Some good is already evident! Gareth Morgan will be able to return to annoying cats and misforecasting the Auckland property market.

Our environmental conscience managed to extricate themselves from their own cesspit and already some of the wilder and more excessive election pledges are being dampened down.

Even better, some of our (seemingly teenage) television breakfast hosts may have learnt that despite them giving us the benefit of their omniscience the electorate is a little to mature to be swayed by their thinly veiled political preferences.

Lets hope that over the next few weeks wise heads prevail and we finish up with a responsible Government that can go the distance. Ain’t life wonderful. obligations. The council’s recent responses show a serious disregard for the public interest they are legally required to represent and an apparent misunderstanding of their legal role and duties…. and indeed council’s own written assurances about public engagement.

It is not acceptable for the council to rely on process to block substance, build barriers to public engagement - especially when legitimate concerns are raised by the public they represent.

There is legitimate complaint about the way the council had handled the proposal to poison the Brook sanctuary, the conflicts of interest and the exclusion of public input - into the consent process but also into the council’s decisions as landowner of the sanctuary land and the adjacent Brook Recreation Reserve land and the Brook camping ground. There are also very serious questions about decisions involving the use of public funds. The council is legally a separate entity. Its ethics and culture are led by the mayor. Nelson has an interesting and diverse community. But recent experience shows that leadership is lacking to engage or reflect the public interest.