Category: Uncategorized

Notice of Requirement to Remove Six Pohutukawa at 820 Great North Road

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Update on the Pohutukawa at St Lukes Road Interchange by Vernon Tava.

A decision will be known in early December

Vernon Tava's avatarVernon Tava

It was fortuitous – having just completed two days of RMA hearing training the day before – to attend a full day of hearings on the 6th of November regarding a matter on which the Waitematā Local Board was the main submitter in opposition.

St-lukes-intersection Before and after as modelled by AT.

AT propose the removal of six mature Pohutukawa trees from the side of Great North Road on either side of the St Lukes intersection. There is a good summary (including a one-minute video here). This is to allow for two lanes of traffic to turn on to the North Western Motorway on the eastern side of the St Lukes bridge intersection. The site is on the Local Board’s boundary with the Albert-Eden Local Board and on the western side of the intersection the boundary runs along Great North Road as far as Motions Road. The reserve in which…

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Argh NIMBYs Again?

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Let Kids be Kids

 

Someone had to stir up a hornet’s nest this morning in the Herald about kids playing in a playground.

From the NZ Herald

Kids’ flying fox irks residents at Stonefields

5:00 AM Wednesday Nov 26, 2014 – Anne Gibson 
Stonefields neighbours complain after playground opens in front of their houses
The days of children screaming in delight as they whiz along a flying fox might be numbered at one housing development.

Signs are about to be put up and a noise assessment is under way after complaints about children making too much noise at the new playground next to the Stonefields estate.

Residents there are upset about an adventure kids’ park which opened in front of their houses a few weeks ago.

A large flying fox outside their front doors bringing what they say is excessive noise and large areas of sand – used to create a landing zone beneath the equipment – are their main issues.

Alan Gilder, of Galway Bay Tce, said he didn’t begrudge children the playground but he wants the flying fox and sand removed, is concerned about three tall climbing towers which he said were a potential hazard and said children endangered locals by riding bikes on footpaths.

Another resident, who has since sold her house, said meetings had been held with political representatives to resolve issues with the park.

Mr Gilder said pets defecated in the sand which created another safety hazard.

Stonefields is a joint venture between Fletcher Building and Todd Properties to develop the 2600-residence estate in a former quarry at the foot of Mt Wellington.

Fletcher Residential general manager Ken Lotu-Iiga said he had initially not been aware of issues with the park.

“We have referred a few people on to Todd but it’s something that came to light when the park was constructed,” he said.

Desley Simpson, chairwoman of the Orakei Local Board which funded the playground, said issues were being discussed with a view to resolution.

…….

Source and full article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11364374

 

Okay granted sand might not be the most practical idea I could think of but for the rest it looks like pure NIMBYism and wrapping kids up in Politically Correct cotton wool.

If the kids were screaming like hell in the night there would be grounds for complaints. But during the day especially as summer is coming (and a loo is to be installed I hear)? Come on, we are meant to be encouraging kids outside not cotton wool them up and plant them behind Play Stations…..

 

Chisholm Report: Collins to be cleared of smear campaign against SFO boss

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Twitter has gone off its collective nut in regards to Central politics this morning while my Facebook feed has gone of its own collective nut in regards to Auckland Council politics.

Going to be a busy day today folks

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

John Key is planning to release the report prepared by Justice Lester Chisholm into allegations of a smear campaign against the former head of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Adam Feeley. Slightly Left understands that the report clears Ms Collins of any wrongdoing in relation to any such campaign against the former SFO Chief.

We also understand from sources close to the PM’s office that the report slams the NZ Herald for working with Cameron Slater.

We would like to know whether Fran O’Sullivan stands by her statements that she was not involved in the attack on Feeley and we would also like to know how many times NZ Herald Investigations Editor, Jared Savage, leaked information to either Cathy Odgers (Cactus Kate) or WhaleOil in order for them to launch attacks on Feeley.

Some serious questions requiring some serious answers from supposedly serious journalists.

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Spy Report (Leaked by Phil Goff): Jason Ede Failed To Front

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Presented without comment

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

Slightly Left of Centre has received information that PM John Key’s self-styled “black-ops” man Jason Ede refused to attend an inquiry held by Inspector General of Security and Intelligence (SIS), Cheryl Gwyn, choosing instead to provide only a written statement in relation to the potentially inappropriate and politically motivated release of information by the SIS during the 2011 election campaign.

Despite repeated attempts by the inquiry to question Mr Ede further on his involvement to WhaleOil blogger, Cameron Slater, Mr Ede failed to front up.

This information, which was declassified and released to Slater under the Official Information Act (OIA), directly contradicted Phil Goff’s denials that he was briefed by SIS director, Warren Tucker, about suspected Israeli agents in Canterbury at the time of the earthquakes, causing Mr Goff significant embarrassment at a politically sensitive moment.

Labour sources confirm that the report, entitled Inquiry by Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Concerning Release of Information…

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New Spy Laws? Fix Departmental Incompetence First

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Indeed I did point that out from Smith
Three sets of convicts or alleged criminals have so far escaped NZ this year heading to all sorts of destinations.

Why give new powers if the incompetent State apparatus can’t even utilise perfectly working and existing laws already in place to protect its citizens.

Key in typical one dimensional thinking is looking for solutions to a problem that is only there owing to State incompetence. Meaning the solution Key wants is the wrong solution. The actual solution is a rather simple one and rather effective as well; that is a nice big rocket or even better a nuke under the State’s backside and actually press the button.

New laws dont deal with existing incompetence, only gut outs at the top and proper funding to the agencies responsible for enforcing perfectly working existing laws do.

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

John Key says the Government needs to give Police, SIS et al sweeping new powers to ensure the safety of citizens.

“Would you rather be free and dead or heavily surveilled and alive?” seems to be the choice being put in front of Kiwis these days.

Ben Ross from Talking Auckland rightly pointed out on Twitter that for all of the hoopla around our spy laws, Philip John Smith was able to leave prison, fly out and get all the way to Brazil before being apprehended by the police force of a “developing” nation.

Kiwi authorities do have a responsibility to keep citizens safe, but the number of people killed in terror attacks on NZ soil is zero. The number of people killed by domestic prisoners in the first 14 years of this century is much higher than that. Karl Kuchenbecker, murdered by Graham Burton who was on parole, Liam Ashley…

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The Sutton debacle

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If the Opposition can get its act together.

As they also have plenty of ammo from Coleman which I reblogged on earlier today

jononatusch's avatarOccasionally Erudite Publications

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: it’s not a good thing, except when you’re playing Frank Zappa’s 1988 instrumental album Guitar, in which case ‘Sexual Harassment in the Workplace’ is the opening track, and it’s a stonker. However, setting aside the brilliance of Frank Zappa, when one hears that someone is about to resign due to sexual harassment claims that have been upheld and substantiated, all sorts of icky things come to mind.

Roger Sutton’s press conference of a few days ago undoubtedly therefore seemed like a great idea at the time to him. He talked of hugs, off-colour jokes and calling women “honey” and “sweetie”. It was calculated to minimise the damage, instilling in people’s minds the image of a harmless, ever-so-slightly flawed, olde world boss, struck down by the forces of modern feminism.

I for one initially heard the soundbites from the press conference and thought that the whole…

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“Fucking fuck fuck, so he’s on the phone now?” – Jonathan Coleman

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Honestly this is either one heck of a scoop or this is in line for a KDC Moment of Truth fail.

However (unless something goes belly up), I will side with Scoop and some real trouble is about to blow up in National’s face (yeah I know another one after Corrections, Sutton, and something else that I can’t remember at this moment.

I know Third Term Governments get Third Term-ites but not this early.
So then has all these years of Silos and yes men about to come back against the top-tier of National?

We shall see.

Oh what Coleman said to warrant the title of Josh’s blog post can be heard about 2:33mins in and you will need to turn the volume up. But yes you can hear the Minister utter those words.

 

Reference Links:
http://slightlyleftofcentre.co.nz/2014/11/19/ryall-forced-to-quit-health-benefits-limited-in-financial-chaos/

http://beehive.govt.nz/release/next-steps-implementing-dhb-shared-services-programme?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+beehive-govt-nz%2Freleases+%28Releases+-+beehive.govt.nz%29
Yep on cue the Government dropped a presser……..

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

A Nat despondent at the silo mentality that John Key has created in the beehive has outed the Governments failed Health Benefits scheme to a left wing blogger.

Coleman was only on radio this morning talking about this because of a call put into his office last night by me. Check out the call here.

The problems within HBL were highlighted months ago in parliament by accurate questioning from Labours Annette King and it seems that Bill English knifed his long time political friend Tony Ryall in order to try to shut down the controversy over a situation caused by his lack of oversight in the lead up to an election.

The information that allowed sightlyleftofcentre.co.nz to break this story before anyone else, came from within the National caucus and may well be the first sign of the kind of caucus disunity that sinks Prime Ministers.

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Rural Communities to Take a Lead

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In Franklin Ward

 

From Auckland Council:

Council invites rural communities to take the lead

 

Rural communities in the Franklin area have the opportunity to manage their own halls, in response to community feedback.

Auckland Council issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the management and operation of 11 community halls across the Franklin Local Board area on Thursday 5 November 2014.

On Tuesday 28 October, the local board approved the operations model for the halls whereby the local board will be responsible for governance and strategy, while day-to-day operations will be managed by hall committees appointed by the local board.

“Franklin Local Board received a strong message from our communities in the Wairoa sub-division about how they want to operate their halls – run by the community, for the community. Currently, management of halls is undertaken differently within the rural areas of Wairoa, Pukekohe and Waiuku,” says local board chair, Andrew Baker.

“We’ve used a community-management model across some parts of Franklin, so we know that with the right support and agreements it can work well. Communities in rural locations take responsibility for their own local halls, giving them more flexibility and encouraging greater use of the halls as a community resource.”

Through the new model, there will be one way of operating as chosen by the community and supported by the local board. This means operations across Franklin will be consistent, transparent and efficient.

“It also means all of the halls will have strong local connections – we know rural communities have a high level of ownership over their venues,” adds Mr Baker.

The EOI will be used to identify those community groups with an interest in operating each hall. Each group must be an incorporated society or trust, or have the ability to become incorporated.

Further Information

 

Auckland Council will remain the landlord of the asset, but the hall committee will manage it using a ‘Licence to Occupy and Manage’ together with a funding agreement. The council will retain responsibility for major maintenance of the buildings.

The Expression of Interest includes the following 11 rural halls within Franklin:

  • Kawakawa Bay Community Hall
  • Orere War Memorial Hall
  • Maraetai Community Hall
  • Whitford Community Hall
  • Whitford War Memorial Pavilion
  • Beachlands Memorial Hall
  • Clevedon Community Hall
  • Clevedon District Centre
  • Ardmore Hall
  • Alfriston Hall
  • Waiuku War Memorial Town Hall.

For more information, email ruralhalls@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

——ends——

 

Whale Watch

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Not often I would comment of matters “out of state” but the Slater Empire running at diminishing capacity is one that I have been keeping an eye on for a while now.

As I have noted before who knows what will happen. We might see WO come back as an MK2 version or it might diminish to such an extent it is like a Red Dwarf star.

I notice the Centre Left is having a crack at an MK2 with a new blog starting to leave The Standard, and The Daily Blog behind. Maybe the Centre Right could MK2 itself or Kiwi Blog takes over again at the top.

As for Auckland matters the main three blogs plus good old Metro Mag are still going well there 🙂

Pete George's avatarYour NZ

Moderator Travis Polson opened up about differences about what is going on at Whale Oil yesterday.

kathy maddren

Looks like “LabTested ” has just got banned again today from the Whale. They only got un-banned a few weeks ago, after applying for one of Pete Belts amnesty spots. Poor Bugger. Wonder what terrible commenting crime they committed this time ??? LOL.

Mike C

Lab Tested seemed pretty normal to me.

Travis Poulson

He is. Quite a decent bloke actually.

Mike C

Have you met Lab Tested, Travis ?

Travdog

Not in person, but just the impression I get from general chit chat. Seems to be a rather smart guy, travels a lot (possibly from work) and likes his hunting. All up ticks in my book.

Only down vote in my book was that he traded his dignity to go back to WO after being banned once. Some have even been…

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