South Waikato News

Serious accident

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I have just finished reading an article about a vehicle accident in which a vehicle was stationary at a road junction and another swerved to avoid it (while approachin­g the road junction) and ran head on into a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. The accident resulted in very serious injuries to the driver of the swerving vehicle.

The report went on to state that according to the latest Ministry of Transport figures the average cost of vehicle caused fatalities was just over $4.5 million.

I find it incredible that this accident (which was at Tamahere) would probably not have been between vehicles travelling at any where near the open road speed and yet could so easily have been fatal. With the cost of accidents being so high (in more ways than one) the cost of signage to slow down traffic travelling through Tokoroa makes an absolute mockery of the ministry’s stated objective to make travelling on our roads safer.

A friend of mine recently said to me ‘‘you know don’t you that when bureaucrat­s take on their jobs they leave commonsens­e outside,’’ cynical ? I’m not so sure.

John C Simcock, Tokoroa from the $5 million. Seven years ago I submitted to the annual plan process and addressed full council in hearings asking they divest themselves of $26m SWIF monies.

It was a deliberati­ve distractio­n to the core business of council.

Who are the trustees selected at arm’s length from the council to hold this trustee role? With the council going into public excluded 17 times in the past three years, and the media being tossed out too, who will really know how the saved electricit­y share money was spent, including the $5m, and how it was allocated and who gets that money ultimately.

Correct me if I am wrong but I spent 12 half days attending the public submission­s over the annual plan process 2014/15 and the $5m public allocation process to only then not know which councillor­s supported which projects because the public were excluded.

Why, because Deputy Mayor Jenny Shattock shouted from the tea room "get that person out of here". So let’s just enjoy now the council can get back to its core business of swimming pools and libraries. It is tyranny if the public cannot sit and watch how its money is to be spent. Anyway congratula­tions to the residents for getting your money back.

All $26m of it. I hope the allocation works out for jobs and promotion.

PS: Ask the mayor and deputy on the equal amount of debt that’s been run up over the past decade. I look forward to paying the interest on this debt. Enjoy your money. Rod Young, official complainan­t

Rod Young, Tokoroa

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