Go-Whangarei rejects ''blue sky" ideas

A leaked document contains Blue Sky ideas rejected as "unacceptable or unworkable", says Go-Whangarei leader David Blackley.

A call centre to screen calls to councillors; having councillors "remain fairly silent" while the mayor and key members attend to matters and a reward scheme for voters are ideas rejected as "unacceptable or unworkable'' by political party Go-Whangarei.

The party is standing founder David Blackley for mayor and in the Whangarei Heads ward, as well as 12 other ward candidates, in the hope of winning a controlling vote in the local body elections.

The Northern Advocate was given a copy of a document on Monday that outlined Go-Whangarei policies and objectives, and included information for potential candidates.
But Mr Blackley said the document was prepared as the party was being established and included "blue sky" ideas from a number of people.

The ideas were discarded, he said. Any ideas that formed Go-Whangarei policies were the ones already made public - including freezing rates, encouraging businesses and economic growth; free parking; better rubbish; putting brakes on wasteful spending and halting rising costs.

Mr Blackley warned against anyone presenting the leaked document publicly as Go-Whangarei policy, saying to do so would be "dishonest''.

''When you are starting something off from scratch you start with a blank piece of paper and everyone throws their ideas in, even if they are tongue in cheek, because [the document] was all confidential and is clearly marked so. I'm not even sure where some of those ideas came from,'' Mr Blackley said.

''We had fun chucking out everything that was unacceptable or unworkable ... Our only agenda is a determination that Whangarei can do much better - and we know we can.''

The document said once elected, councillors' time input would not be great as most policies would have been established and agreed upon before the election. A small group of key councillors would attend to most matters.

The document proposed a dedicated call centre, with PAs, to receive councillor calls and screen them. Councillors could choose to have a low profile, the document suggested.
Half of the Go-Whangarei councillors could potentially remain fairly silent but supportive on all Go-Whangarei's main issues.

''Each member of the team will enter into a binding agreement that confirms their commitment to the party and their support for the agreed agenda so far as is legally possible,'' the document said.

The document said the Go-Whangarei campaign would have a budget in excess of $100,000 and involve a significant advertising campaign across all media.