Middle NZ: Please keep rates rise to a minimum

For the first time in years, I have received a handwritten letter. Photo / File

Last month the Regional Council signalled a zero rates increase for 2020-21 due to the impact of Covid-19.

Please, Napier City Council, Hastings District Council, CHB Council and Wairoa Council, if you can't follow suit, find a way to make your increases as minimal as possible.

Central Hawke's Bay Council yesterday said it had cut its increase to 3.8 per cent. Not too bad and hopefully the rural community will be able to cope with that.

Meanwhile, in Napier, Mayor Kirsten Wise was quick to reassure residents that the 14 per cent rate increase reported by RNZ on Monday was not true.

It gets tricky here because Napier City Council gets a good proportion of its income from the tourist industry and we all know what Covid-19 has done to that.

So although I understand the need for a rate rise, it must be minimal. The council is far from being alone in having taken a hit.

Thousands of jobs have gone and those residents simply can't afford a huge rates hike.

Perhaps the council could do what the banks are doing and give people a rates holiday. They would have to pay it eventually, just as everyone will eventually have to pay their mortgages, but a bit of relief might take the sting out of any proposed increase.

While Napier will debate the increase at its meeting on April 30, Hasting District Council has set its proposed rates increase at 4.6 per cent. I was hoping for less as there are a lot of families struggling to feed their families and with increased power bills on the horizon as we head into winter, times are going to get even tougher.

We are all in this together and it's going to be a long climb out. When we do go to level 2 we should all try as hard as we can to support local businesses.

Linda Hall, Assistant Editor, Hawke's Bay Today.

I'm looking forward to going out with friends and family for a meal, having a cup of coffee somewhere and strolling through the shops.

I must admit that I was hoping to go to level 3 tomorrow for entirely selfish reasons. It's my birthday and I simply wanted to drive to the beach and go for a walk.

Never mind, I understand why with a long weekend looming the lockdown was extended. A wise decision.

I saw first-hand how hard it is on some families during this time.

On Monday morning a car crawled along the road outside my house with a woman "telling" a young girl to "get in the car".

The girl, I would estimate to be 13 or 14 years old, totally ignored her and walked along looking down at her phone.

I felt so sorry for who I presume was her mother. Teenagers in lockdown — the thought sends shudders down my spine.

I've talked in recent columns about the things that have made me happy in the past month.

Yesterday I received something that made me laugh out loud. I haven't had one of these precious things for years.

A handwritten letter was delivered into my mailbox all the way from Australia. My 11-year-old grandson had written it. His first couple of lines "I hope you are doing good and powering through this tough time. I'm sure something good's going to come out of this."
I sure hope he is right.

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today