Local Focus: RDRR candidate wants somewhere to park his ute and load up

Rural farmer and RDRR candidate Lachlan McKenzie says Rotorua Lakes Council has been focusing on projects that aren't core to the wellbeing of the community.

"I think their focus has been on the grandiose projects. We've got a statue that's supposedly meant to be in the middle of a roundabout, which could be a potential traffic hazard," the Kaharoa resident said.

"When I go into town I have to travel by car, because we don't have a public transport system out here. I take my ute into town and pick up my goods and come home.

"When I go into the central business district, there's 80 less carparks than there were before, and I pop into a shop for 10 minutes and out again. I need to have convenience of being able to load my vehicle close to the supply goods where I get the goods from, rather than have a cycleway there that's not being used."

Echoing the key messages of the RDRR ticket, McKenzie would like to see a plan to reduce the levels of debt, saying "the next generation is not going to be able to do the things that they want to do because they're going to be paying the debt that this current council has created".

"The priorities of council should absolutely be the core infrastructure facilities for its community. We're spending more than what the community can afford."

In this Local Focus interview, the farmer's rights advocate talks about accountability of ratepayers' money, the state of the CBD and why he stands for the RDRR.