Ed Said - Do you have a long term plan

 

Last week saw the closing of public response to the Council’s Long Term Plan. This is a blueprint for the next three to ten years for the progression of Kaipara and takes into account debt and development of infrastructure and other projects which will enhance and support industry within the area. It also includes how best to cope with prospective growth plus distribution of housing and services to best utilise said growth while judiciously handling the many millions or even billions of dollars which pass through Council coffers during that time, all in a positive vein. 

Strangely enough I have never known of a long term plan that has a negative outlook. Remember that during these ten prospective years we may have three different Councils, each with a different agenda according to a different climate so a LTP cannot be set in stone but must be re-visited from time to time. Remember too in 2008 when the world economy went crash? No Council anywhere had any sort of safety net in place for ‘what if’. 

I am one who doesn’t believe a boom should necessarily end in a bust, but the world financial crisis certainly brought the world fiscal system to an abrupt halt yet even those who professed to the oncoming bust did little to prepare for it.

Public submissions to council will deal predominantly with rates and roading. Others will refer to traffic flow, speed control in certain areas, access to safer bicycleways, beach access for dogs, rubbish collections and so on, while a small number will seize the chance to have their usual moan about all and sundry and probably criticise or abuse the Council but those are the reason rubbish bins were invented.

It’s interesting to note that the Northland Regional Council public meeting to discuss their LTP was attended by just one member of the public. I doubt that will be the case for Kaipara. However, of the many who will have something to say about our LTP, how many people actually make an LTP which has relevance to their own lives? I would guess less than one family in a hundred. Strangely enough, nobody seems to have a plan as to where they see themselves or their families in ten years. Most will plod along paying off their mortgage from which time they will be better off moneywise but nobody gives creedence to the need for a larger house as the family grows either in size or number. Though you no longer have a big mortgage, interest has gone from 4.5 percent to 7 percent as it was a decade ago. 

Another factor is that a decade ago people had mortgages around $300,000. Nowadays many have a burden double that amount yet still have no safety net in the event of a 2008 fiscal repetition. Such things can and do lead to the breakdown, then the break up, of families. Should such a thing happen (and God forbid) few will be giving a second though to what our local Council is doing. When such things happen of a personal nature, believe me, nobody gives a toss about the potholes in the road. While the Kaipara LTP is important, our own personal futures are even moreso. It’s usually better to keep our own backyard in order before we worry about others. 

Just my thoughts.

Rob