No doubt you will all have been aware of the 2011-2012 Annual Pan proposal that will determine the planned service levels for the year ahead. Those of you that are interested in this stuff will have made submissions, those that aren’t will just have to live with the outcomes!
This assumes that making a submission will have an impact…well, sometimes it does, and it most definitely raises the level of awareness of councilors to our issues. Thanks to those in our community who made submissions and spoke to them, we now have some good results coming out of this process.
The major wins will be the $150.000 for the Tutukaka boat ramp improvement and widening that should start of soon….we will be able to have 2 boats loaded and unloaded at a time, making the process twice as fast….as long as people can back their trailers in a straight line!
The other win is the Ngunguru foreshore protection, $500.000 has been set aside to look at our and 2 other foreshores and start some of the urgent work to protect and enhance the Ngunguru waterfront.
All going well the footpath in Shoebridge Crescent will be started soon (I know, it was supposed to be there already…storm damage repairs keep on getting priorities) and an upgrade on the walking track from Matapouri to Whale Bay is on the cards…to be started soon…and so it should be!
The Ngunguru Sandspit is still on the agenda, and Anneke Muilwijk’s art exhibition in the old Library in Town showed a snapshot of a community that is determined that this is not forgotten!
The consultation on the “Hundertwasser” proposal is generating a good bit of discussion…isn’t that the purpose of any “artwork”?
Preparations for the RWC 2011 are in full swing, this should be able to give all businesses a bit of a boost at a time when they need it most.
Upgrades in the I-Site and on our entrance way into Town may flow on with more visitors on the Twin Coast Discovery route and bring more visitors to Whangarei and our Tutukaka Coast. In Northland we have the lowest GDP in NZ and are winners in all the wrong statistics. I will be working within WDC to drive economic development, become more “enabling” for those that want to set up or enlarge a business, improve facilities and get better outcomes for our community….Whenever we feel like things are not quite what we would like let’s spare a thought of the tribulations in Christchurch… with all our challenges our glass is still more than half full!
Cheers,
Jeroen
