Local Council

2022-08-03 Enabling Housing Supply

With the recent release of the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act, Christchurch City Council (CCC) have been working on a draft Proposed District Plan to implement the new Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS). This was set to be notified by 20th August 2022, however, due to impacts of Covid-19 and winter sickness to the Planning staff, this has been delayed until September.

Other people call it "pak'n stack". It's not going to be much like a "Garden City" with housing like this becoming the new normal. Indeed these days they are touting Christchurch as "fun city" rather than garden city. Imagine looking out the window in one of the units and staring straight at your neigbor's wall, or into their private space.

• Will you be able to see the sky at all?
• Is the street the only parking space they envisage for the residents?

I recently stayed in an air B&B like this with my two large dogs. It had the luxury of a small garden of Astraturf. It was inappropriate for the dogs to relieve themselves there. The front door opened straight on to the pavement and I would have to snap them on the lead night or day venture out and then pick up their mess. To play ball with them I would have to find a park were dogs are allowed off the lead. It was a stressful stay and I was only there to defend myself in court against false accusations of "dog leash infringements", but I shall discuss that in my dog blog.

New Zealand is not a crowded country so why not use the space we have? City Council are using us as guinea pigs to try out dystopian dense urban living practices that we have no need for here. Building houses further apart with a garden, is only more expensive when the price of land is exorbitant. No justification for that here in New Zealand with our tiny population.

2022-07-28 City flooding

After the Earthquakes the land I live on has dropped by 30cm and it has been designated TC3 which basically means prone to flooding and needing special foundations. However it looks like other parts of the city are a lot worse off than I am. When all the insurance money and government grants started rolling in I thought it very unwise to invest it in rebuilding right here in this swamp on top of a know fault line.

Residents in Shirley are still cleaning up from the flooding and have accused the council of doing nothing to help or fix broken infrastructure. It comes on the same day that council is expected to green light $19 million dollar cycleways today. https://t.co/qIWCZ7PG33 pic.twitter.com/hlZnf9dUQk

— Chris Lynch (@chrislynchmedia) July 27, 2022

I enjoy reading articles from Chris Lynch. He's objective and connects with relevant issues in a very subtle way... like cycle paths and climate change here! None the less, all this has pursuaded me that I don't care about this city. I don't want to live in their Sustainable City Experiment, nor fund it with my rates.

2022-07-18 Mayor Nominations

Stuff announced the opening of mayoral nominations in Christchurch. Their article features a 'woke' interview with LGNZ ("diversity, equity and inclusion focus in our mahi" - style). My objection is that said national body is dictating local policies in pursuit of UN mandates and thus they negate whatever WE voted for locally!

Even though I suspect the outcome will be dominated by special interests because regular voters just go on personalities, once the nominations have been finalized I do intend to research what actual policies each candidate will be persuing.

By way of example consider the article by Chris Lynch about our Wizard. It quotes what the Wizard thinks of himself. "Thought-provoking, not driven by self interest and thinks our City needs cheering up", but what does that translate to for us who live here?

What, for instance, would his stance be on climate commitments, on iwi co-governance and 3-waters? What does he think of increasing population, housing, employment, traffic congestion, crime, business development, recreation facilities...

I don't just mean multi-million dollar projects like the stadium, but also simple things like afordable parking and intrusive traffic calming measures? None of that is covered, is it?!

2022-07-14 over budget stadium approved

City council voted 13 to 3 approving an extra $150 million of rate payer subsidy for this $683m project. They predict it will take decadeds to bring in that amount in returns and I doubt much of that will go to compensating us for our compulsory contribution.

It will seat 30,000. Where will they all park their cars and how often do such events take place? Most of the time it will squat in city center like a huge white elephant in the room. Lianne Dalziel, our current mayor, says she was delighhted at the decision, but she's not even running as a mayoral candidate this year. It's all political virtue signalling for prestige without consulting us who must foot the bill regardless if we would ever want to attend a rugby match there.

Allegedly we elect these people, but I don't feel our fourth estate is asking them the right questions. They rarely campaign on the issues that affect us and they all take their instructions from LGNZ, so our vote means nothing anyway.

2022-07-13 LGOIMA request - Mayoral Covenant

I recieved reply to my local government official information request about our commitment to Global Covenant of Mayors. Rather than just display it, I'm embedding it here so that you too can open the links and learn what it's all about. I'm wondering if, staring down the double barrels of huge rate hikes and cripling carbon restrictions anyone else wants to join me in challenging these commitments thru the Ombudsman, like they say we can.

Feel free to join in discussion with me on Disqus (the blue D icon) for this page. I will be commenting with my interptretation of what it all means once I've studied it properly.

Dear Ms Perduta,

I refer to your email below.

Council Response

On the 20 December 2017 the Council resolved to sign the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. This decision was made by the full Council and the document was signed by the Mayor. The related report is item 34 of this Council agenda (click thumbnail).

The related Newline article can be found at this link (click thumbnail).

Like many municipalities throughout the world the Christchurch City Council has developed a strategy on climate change and taken many actions to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the future impacts of climate change.

These actions are not specific to signing this voluntary Covenant, but are aligned to its objectives.

The Council’s Climate Strategy and a summary of actions taken by Council is available.

The cost of the Council’s climate related actions are included within successive annual and long term plans which undergo a formal public consultation process. The cost of climate actions proposed in the most recent 2021-31 Long Term Plan were described in this Newsline article.

The full 2021-31 Long Term Plan is available.

You have the right to request the Ombudsman to review this decision. Complaints can be sent by email to info@ombudsman.parliament.nz, by fax to (04) 471 2254, or by post to The Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.

Kind regards,
Sean Rainey
Manager Official Information and Privacy Officer
Official Information Team

To put how the WEF and UN control our local councils in context, you might want to watch this synopsis from a recent CounterSpin event.

2022-07-09 Carl Bromley running for Mayor?

The MSM are presenting Christchurch mayoral election as a "two horse race", but TBH I haven't seen either of these candidates speak frankly about their objectives. They talk about themselves a lot and virtue signal about cycle lanes and a new stadium, but none of it appeals to me: I don't agree with my rates paying for "climate change measures". They will cost us dearly, but return no benefit and make fuck all difference to the global climate.

Here is a clip from last week's news paper, presented under fair use copyright exemption for the sake of critique and discussion because it exemplies the trend: Sara Templeton (who ever she might be...) isn't running, so it's between David Meates, or Phil Mauger with the retired ChCh Wizard as the rank outsider. In reality there are several other contenders but they aren't even mentioned.

Meanwhile Carl Bromley, is out braving the weather. Here he is speaking publicly in Christchurch Cathedral square, but there are few who care in attendance. I too won't be voting for him for reasons discussed on another page, but none the less I feel sad about the way he is treated by the establishment: It's not a level playing field and this is definitely not how a democracy should be run.

2022-05-21 Electing our next Mayor?

Christchurch City Council (CCC) is a corporation. Now I don't understand the legalities, but somehow we have been contracted to employ their services. I feel they owe us accountability for what they are doing. Who is managing it? See image. I don't think we get a say in who is CEO, but we do get to vote for the mayor.

This will happen on 8 October 2022, so not long to go. Thus I'm trying to find who is registered as candidate and what they are offering, but haven't found it yet. What I have found is adjacent confirmation that we were committed to the emissions agenda of the Global Covenant of Mayors back in 2017. I don't remember getting to vote on that either, so I sent an official information request to our current mayor. I discuss the response in a later post above.

I also put in an inquiry about our involvement with the Rockefeller Resilient Cities program. They sent me an acknowledgement, but have not supplied any information yet.

Why do I care? Well I don't like the city councils total commitment to zero carbon by 2040, nor their designs to almost tripple the population of our city by then. At my age I don't want to see my rates dissipated creating this train wreck of a city for some airy-fairy virtue signaling future in a Dense vibrant urban community of diversity" on a zero carbon diet. I also have concerns about the infra structure, water, energy, transport, employment opportunities. What will we as a "population hub" be producing? Where will our food come from? What I want is minimal government, providing services and facilities that will facilitate free enterprise and improve my life today.

I do see that many people are taken in by the climate change narrative, and think rules and regulations are essential, but they just accept whatever they are being told and haven't even thought about it. I think we ought to inform ourselves and vote intelligently.

Local government come 2050

For decades dismissed as conspiracy theory regular people are gradually waking up to Agenda 21. It is an ambitious plan for completion during this 21st century and aims to manage and regulate all resources on our planet. That includes human resources, all life forms in fact, but it is being rolled-out unilaterally by self appointed financial "stake holders", while we, the bulk of humanity, have not had any say in that. To understand the relevance, let's fast forward to the future:

Agenda 21 has multiple milestones, but for this discussion about local authorities, the most relevant is agenda 2050: The demise of the nation state. Instead, a global network of regionally administrated cities is envisaged. These would be production hubs of the international global corporate elites, that are linked by belt and road transport routes which primarily serve commercial purpose: Not for commuting, nor for recreational travel.

You will likely be renting a pod in a "dense vibrant urban community" near your current place of work while conforming to zero carbon austerity. Your education will have been tailored to the needs of industry and the socialist equity agenda. Your diet will consist of GMO crap supplemented with synthetic and insect protein. Going out into the country, hunting and fishing may well be off limits while even just land to grow your own vegetables could be unavailable to you: Your purpose in life is as cyborg labour resource to our parasitic financial overlords.

Our current national democracy, serves only as a transitory distraction. It's purpose is to usher in a global multicultural miasma of diversity, where nowhere feels like home to anyone. Check for your self: Not a single one of our current politicians opposes this globalist vision, yet we stand to loose our identity, society and culture as we surrender land, mineral rights, means of production and the collective intellectual property of all humanity to the sinister Davos Man elites.

Cities will be regionally administrated according to best international practice as laid down by international NGO.

Who makes the decisions?

Already for many years local area authorities have been using our rates and taxes to pay for foreign NGO consultancy services. The NGOs are directed by UN policies, created by financial stakeholders. They are not serving our needs but their own Marxist agenda of equitable redistributions on a global scale. It's not hard to understand that this likely results in 3rd world poverty world wide for most with all the wealth in hands of an illusive idle elite. Forced to compete commercially with zero protection from unfair outside competition and migrant workers, coupled with the legacy of crippling national debts to the privately owned World Banking Cartel, the bulk of humanity is going to be reduced to indigent indentured servitude to corporate hegemony.

Christchurch, for instance was selected to take part in the Rockefeller "resilient cities" program. The Rockefellers don't live here. Why should these foreign billionaire oil barrons be directing our cityscape? By whom, and on what authority were we nominated to become their guinea pig?

Food for thought? - Time for action!

Earthquake Rebuild Profiteering

With just a few loads of gravel and a parking ticket machine, the sites of buildings that came down in the 2011 quake were converted into privately owned public car parking. Wealthy 'investors' from elsewhere who suffered nothing in the quakes snapped up the land at rock bottom price and will see it's value sky-rocket as they leech off the rebuild that's going on all around their gravel pit parking lots.

Besides insurance payouts, the government has poured billions into Earthquake relief, but a lot of that went to profiteering slumlords who live mostly up in Auckland. It also went to bailing out insurance companies and paying for underinsured municipal repairs.

Meanwhile, for reasons that aren't clear to me, my own buildings insurance turned out to be invalid that year. I got not one cent of assistance. Apparently I'm not even eligible for a property assesment by EQC, yet the local council remain intransigent that I continue paying rates that include an EQC levy, as had my property never been affected!

I did try, but was unable to sell at the rateable value that they are claiming while struggling to fund essential repairs. They all treat my home as worthless until it comes to me paying. It's a blatant collusion to rip-off the defenseless victims of a natural disaster. To once again financially squeeze me out of my own home for the benefit of profiteering and bureaucracy that is devoid of accountability on all fronts.

City of the future

Allegedly a vibrant colorful city center is planned, but astronomical rates make it expensive to rent or run a business there. Hefty parking fees make it unattractive to spend much time in town. Public transport and cycling may sound good, but try carrying your groceries and purchases home and likely you will need to add the cost of delivery.

Out in the suburbs larger family homes that had gardens for your kids to play in, have been demolished. The rebuild seems to consist of tiny boxes with gardens too small for so much as an inflatable toddler's paddling pool. The lucky ones might get a parking space allocated.

After the 2011 quakes, traffic calming measures like speed bumps took priority over fixing the broken roads and pot holes. My alloy wheels were damaged hitting a gaping pothole in the dark one night and the catalytic converter was cracked on a poorly constructed speed bump. New bulges in the curb at junctions prevent cars filtering left and right thus creating unprecedented traffic jams and queues. Instead of fixing our water mains the council spent a fortune putting in meters all over town, and now they are handing control of our water infrastructure that we've all paid for intto Maori ownership even though water is essential to all of us and was never a scarce commodity.

A Theiving Council Employee

A few years ago I once paid my rates in cash. It was a reduced amount because I applied for and was granted my back dated low income rates rebate. I remember a sly grin on the face of the lady at the counter. She was getting my change from over the other side of the office and called out "do you need a receipt?" Having been in the queue for ages while they were helping an elderly lady fill in her rebate form, I had responded that it probably wouldn't be necessary, but on my way back to the car I did think I ought to go back in and ask for it afterall, but then shrugged it off as I had a lot more to do that morning and didn't fancy standing in the queue again.

On my next rates invoice I was charged again although they had evidently processed my rebate application that I submitted at the same time. Unreasonably they had even applied the penalty to the full amount rather than what was owing after deducting said rebate. Their reply predictably uncompromising as they alleged there was no overpayment recorded of "that exact amount" in the week. It smacked of deliberate ignorance, so I suspect it had been investigated by the very same person who pocketed my money with that sly expression on her face.

For them, the difference between right and wrong is not based on morals, but on what they can get away with. Rather than asking for the receipt, now I wish I had recorded it... and see that look change when they know they've been caught red handed, but even then who is going to hold them to account?

Taking control back

Unless we act, come 2050, I anticipate a dystopian totalitarian administration by unelected petty bureaucrats. Corruption and nepotism will be rife, yet each and every one on their personal power trip will just appear to be doing their job, like cogs in a heartless machine that is accountable to nobody. Is this the Brave New World, you want for your tamariki?

When voting, people need to make a clear distinction between their local representative and national politics. That's why we have two votes and those chanting the "two ticks red/blue" mantra undermine our local democracy.

Democracy! Voting for a mayor is too vague. I think we need to split the role into key areas so we can then vote for each official responsible for decision and policies they promiss us. If they do intend to participate in national and foreign special interest consultancy they will need to declare that and can't shrug off responsibility for the results.

When I lived in Christchurch I favored our independent candidate Sally Cogel. She says many things I think are important and I would have liked her to represent me.

Since then i moved to the West Coast. I thoroughly researching ALL our local candidates. Once again I chose an independent. I'm sad he's only on Facebook where I get instantly banned for no reason I know of, but unlike the "two ticks red/blue" populists, he has many good ideas that affect us right here locally. Those red/blue candidates are list MP's, so you gunna get them even wthout any votes! OTOH Wouldn't it be nice to have an extra voice in parliament on our behalf?