Category: Uncategorized

Fireworks Restrictions

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A No-No in Public Places

 

As the annual Guy Fawks event draws nearer (as does Rebekka’s Birthday of which both are on the same day) the Council sends a reminder to people about where you can let off fireworks.

From Auckland Council

Big bang ban in public places this Guy Fawkes

 

Aucklanders wanting to celebrate Guy Fawkes are urged to find a public display or keep to their backyards – and not let off fireworks in public places, where the activity is banned.

The ban came into force in May this year and is aimed at protecting people, animals and property from the risks of fireworks.

While fireworks were banned in some parts of the region, they are now banned year-round in public places across the whole of Auckland.

Cr Cathy Casey, chair of Auckland Council’s Community Development and Safety Committee, says that the ban allows people and their pets to enjoy public places such as beaches and parks without the nuisance and risk of injury from uncontrolled use of fireworks.

“The ban also protects vegetation and property from fireworks damage, which unfortunately can be a regular occurrence around Guy Fawkes night.”

Cr Casey says that public firework displays around Auckland will allow people to enjoy fireworks safely.

“Public fireworks displays are a great way to enjoy fireworks with your community and the health and safety risks are well managed.”

 

Public fireworks displays this year include the following (entry fees apply):

  • 31 October – Clevedon Fireworks, Clevedon Showgrounds
  • 14 November – Papakura Fireworks, Massey Park.

 

Gates at the following volcanic cones will close at the earlier time of 6pm from Sunday 2 November to Sunday 9 November (inclusive) to reduce congestion and the risk to people as they walk to the summits to view firework displays:

  • Takarunga – Mt Victoria
  • Maungawhau – Mt Eden
  • Mt Albert
  • Mt Roskill
  • Maungakiekie – One Tree Hill Domain
  • Maungarei – Mt Wellington.

 

Regulations on fireworks in public places can be found in Part Two of the Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw 2013, which came into force on 26 May 2014. The regulations state that:

  • A person must not set off fireworks, flares or any other explosive material:
    • In a public place, except with the prior written approval of the council or a council  controlled organisation; and
    • In any other place, in a way that does or is likely to create a nuisance or endanger any person, property, dog or other animal in a public place.

—-ends—-

 

Just remember to be safe out there unless we you really want to be the one that triggers a nation-wide ban on private use of fireworks….

 

A Case of Green Corruption?

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Something a little bit different as Auckland grinds its way through Rates and Transport.
No matter which Party an MP is on I do not take highly to snouts in troughs. So I hope the Greens clean this up in earnest as they do not need this distraction while the spot light is firmly on them over Auckland’s transport situation!!!

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

A couple of days ago, I looked into the travel and accommodation expenditure of Green MP Steffan Browning.

I revealed what was already public information for the few who can be bothered looking into it in detail; that Mr Browning has spent $166,369 of taxpayers money on travel and accommodation since October 2012. I have asked Steffan Browning for comment, I have asked Russell Norman for comment, and I have asked Feed the Kids Bill sponsor Metiria Turei for comment. None have deigned to reply. are they simply aloof, or are the hiding something?

The reason I revealed this information is not because of the amount of money he has spent. While it is, in my opinion, a clear example of an MP with his snout in the trough of public funds, the issue I have is the lack of any sort notable of achievement that has resulted from Mr…

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National (Party) Shame

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One thing that I will ping National on is that some Ministers (Joyce, Smith, and even English at the moment (which is a shame)) thinking only on one dimensional terms rather than three dimensional terms.

I do not know what it is with Centre Right Parties here, Australia, the USA, and the UK when it comes to the difference between physical and social infrastructure. They can see physical infrastructure no problem but social infrastructure it seems they can not simply understand for the life of them.

Social infrastructure is as critically important as the physical infrastructure. If you lack the Social Infrastructure at State level we return to the Classic Liberal era of 19th Century Britain and the wild economic swings that would bring about Social Liberalism and the Welfare State up until the 1990’s.

Let me put it in a final form. A society that disconnect will prompt civil unrest and later wars. History has shown that to us again and again.

Time for National to take a history less fast.

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

One of the key responsibilities of incumbent upon Government is the provision of infrastructure.

This includes building railways roads, hospitals, power grids and policing, which forms an intrinsic part of our social infrastructure.

This government has been big on building.

It has spent unprecedented amounts of money on building transport infrastructure, things such as roads and railway lines as it sees these things, quite rightly, as the arteries, veins and capillaries of the New Zealand Economy. This is well and good, but over the last six years the National Government and its allies, which include the Maori Party, has consistently failed to acknowledge the historic and contemporary under-investment in social infrastructure.

To answer a question that the Government has only just noticed, but has been around for decades, Bill English has announce that the Government is looking to sell state houses. The logic seems to be that selling state houses…

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How does Josh Forman view politics?

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Food for thought while I am with thousands of others at Armageddon today.
More on this tomorrow – as well as an Art Sculpture Council just can’t get its act together on…..

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

Well, to me, it is about setting the policies that make it as easy as possible for the residents of this land to have happy and satisfying lives.

It means ultimately, that every single person in this country, be they a natural citizen or not, should be able to look back on whatever portion of their lives that they spent in NZ and be able to honestly think to themselves on their death bed “I feel that I have had all of the choices and opportunities open to me in life.”

Whether they have made the right choices and taken their opportunities is not for the state to measure, but the state can play a part in providing equality of opportunity and freedom of choice by legislating where necessary, and removing barriers and rules where possible.

This means that we need, as a state to put our focus on some…

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Slater Unfairly Maligned

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I have a confession to make. Cameron Slater and Whale Oil is where I drew inspiration back in 2011 to form View of Auckland now Talking Auckland. It was not the attack style he would be known in infamy prior to the election that drew the inspiration to form my own blog, but the content, moderation policy, and simple Blogging 101s to get the thing going and where it is today.

Today the Blog sits in the top 40 and continues to grow at a speed that does not bother me. Over the three years I have tested and trialled different aspects before settling down to the style that the blog is now.
Emails, feedback, and the odd post forming discussion are becoming more regular while the blog is recognised as a credible independent source on that boring Local Government stuff Slater keeps pointing out to me.

I agree with John on several points he has made. Unlike most of the Centre Left blogs you did have pretty much free reign in the comments department providing (through more recent times) they are civil.

Some of the greater (and more intelligent) debates especially around planning and climate change have been over at Whale Oil.

However, if I am being honest with myself now times have changed and circumstances present themselves in all sorts of ways not seen.
True Whale Oil is still number one but his presence and Empire seem to be on the diminishing side just as Judith Collins is.

Who knows what the future holds for Slater but to not acknowledge what he has provided (okay good bad and down right feral) would be me being very dishonest with myself especially if he did provide inspiration for my own blog.

Slater might go through a second period and his Empire another shot at peak power and influence. Or it could diminish itself to history like the great Roman Empire. This we will see in time own Slater’s own terms.

Leadership Race Doomed to Fail

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While the rest of NZ would call this standard procedure in reforming a major political party, there are those in Labour who would think that John’s comments are High Treason.
For this those who think this (High Treason) are not truly fit to be participating in the democratic institute of New Zealand

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

The Labour Party must change the way it elects it’s leader.

Unions are a part of the history of the Labour Party and its formation, and they are also a part of its past. Party members are the lifeblood that provide the bulk of the funds that run the party machine. But ultimately it is voters who are the most important.

I am a member of the party but I do not think that in itself qualifies me to choose the leader of the parliamentary team. I should have a say on who is appointed to the Presidency and the Executive Council but the caucus is a team that needs a leader on whom it can rely, and who can inspire confidence and have the support of a majority of the team that they are to lead.

Unions should not get a vote at all in my opinion.

Unions cannot…

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Rebirth of the Poll of Polls

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Bit soon for all these new polls and Poll of Polls

jononatusch's avatarOccasionally Erudite Publications

So, how did my Poll of Polls do? Pretty rubbish really… The rapid rise of NZ First and the Conservatives during the last half of the campaign didn’t come through in my results, and there certainly seems to be something systemic about the Greens’ ability to fall short of their poll results come election day.

So, I’ve been playing around with the numbers, and have messed with my algorithm to produce what should (hopefully) be a more accurate beast. The changes involve further front-loading of the weighting of new polls (so that the Poll of Polls responds more quickly to meteoric rises a la NZ First and the Conservatives), updating the in-house polling bias offsets, and introducing industry bias offsets (to hopefully deal with issues such as the systematic overly high poll results for the Greens or the lower on average results for NZ First, compared to election day results).

The Poll of…

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Unitary Plan Hearings to be Simplified

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End of October the simplified material is out

 

After quite a few Memorandum for Counsel letters appearing (see: Developments from the Unitary Plan Hearings ) the Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel is working through things to simplify the processes.

From the Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel:

Simpler hearings process tools being developed

 

Help is at hand for submitters to the Auckland Unitary Plan hearings who are having difficulties understanding and navigating the hearings process.

The Independent Hearings Panel considering the more than 9500 submissions – and a further 3500 further submissions – says it’s important that the process encourages everyone to be involved.

One misconception is that submitters can only take part in the hearings process if they have legal counsel, expert witnesses and evidence.

The chair of the Independent Hearings Panel, Judge David Kirkpatrick, said this most definitely is not the case and while this was explained in documents on the Panel’s website, it needs to be highlighted.

“Some feedback is highlighting the complexity of the process and the difficulties some members of the public are having getting to grips with the key information so we are addressing that immediately,” said Judge Kirkpatrick.

“We want it to be as simple as possible for submitters to participate. 

“The Unitary Plan process is big and complicated – it’s a complete review of the regional policy statement, four regional plans and seven district plans – but submitters can keep it relatively simple if they want to.”

Judge Kirkpatrick said Panel staff are:

  • producing a summary ‘How To’ guide
  • producing a YouTube video of the guide
  • having ‘Drop In’ clinics where staff can guide submitters through the process
  • redesigning the Panel’s website so it is geared more towards lay submitters, and
  • producing a new spreadsheet to more clearly identify for submitters which hearing topics their submissions are linked to.

 

This will all be available by the end of October.

The first Drop In clinic is at the Panel’s offices in central Auckland, another is being planned for Orewa and more will be organised around the region if there is demand.

The Panel may also consider holding a number of hearings outside of central Auckland and, possibly, outside normal working hours once more locally specific topics are being considered.

“It’s early days in a two-year process and as submitters get more used to the process and we make improvements, it will be much less daunting than some people have found it to be,” said Judge Kirkpatrick.

Panel staff are available to help submitters with questions and guidance through contact at info@aupihp.govt.nz or 09 979 5566

……….

 

This is a start. The Litmus Test will be the Regional Policy Statement, and the Rural Urban Boundary submissions working their way through the Hearings Panel now (where also the most anguish around the complexity of the Hearings process occurred as well).

I am not due to present and give my submission until next year.

 

A Contest of Ideas and the Fight Against Hysteria

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Interesting and gutsy call. However, one I would be willing to back even though Slater calls me and my own blog boring as it coverings mainly Local Government, and transport. Not that it bothers me.

Democracy only works when we have active contestation of ideas not hysteria by a small ultra-vocal minority on any side of the debate.

I am participating in that contestation of ideas tomorrow when I give yet another “boring” presentation to the “boring” Local Government that is Auckland Council.
It will be interesting to see how Slater goes with John’s said proposal. Your move next Cameron….

Professor Mayhem's avatarSlightly Left of Centre

In order to engage on truly global debate, one needs the Internet. A critical part of this debate is the “blogosphere.”

Personally I dislike the term.

Some people, like Cameron Slater have built their sites and, while some pretty off stuff is said on them, the material produced by Slater himself is often well reasoned and calmly out across.

On the left, as I see it, we have two main blogs; The Standard, and The Daily Blog. Neither of these can be considered reasonable and neither play a positive role in the online evolution of the left side of politics.

To this end, I have extended the hand of mutual respect to Cameron sSlater and asked him to get in touch if he wants to help me build a force on the left, which he and his readers can engage with in meaningful and reasoned debate with people of a…

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