Cut costs for ‘our share’

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

I am appalled that the Mayor and presumably councll thinks ratepayers can accept paying more.

This week council has accepted the money offered by government for Gabrielle recovery — and accepted without much quibble that ratepayers will have to cough up more to cover the increasing debt.

The residents of this region are already burdened enough as a result of weather events, economic policies and politicians’ decisions — enough is enough.

The so-called two-week consultation was a farce — this was a take-it-or-leave-it Hobson’s choice — and the result was hardly “overwhelming” considering the total “consulted” was a mere fraction of the district’s total ratepayers.

From the comments in The Gisborne Herald, it would seem the Mayor and council have already decided “our share” should just be accepted as a rates increase.

I disagree. Council should immediately start  cutting other less important items from its budget and adopt a hard line on unnecessary spending.

It should do this to absorb the recovery debt, and pull the belt in on further rate increases.

All non-priority spending across the board should be cleared off the next annual estimates.

The hardship of many of the district’s people is directly related to their income falling further and further behind costs.

If council really cares about the health and wellbeing of its citizens, it needs to freeze rates until the region gets back on its feet.

Roger Handford