Richard Moore's Straight Talk Columns

Splashing out on hot pools appeal a waste

12/4/2011

I HAVE always loved a good scrap.

Be it verbal, intellectual, physically, on a squash court or in the middle of a footy field. There are few things like the challenge of beating an opponent.

That said, there is also a time when you just have to accept you have been bested and give up with good grace, offer a hand and congratulate your rival.

Unfortunately, some people don't quite understand the rules of the game.

A lot of those folk are self-important types who think they know better than others or, with the benefit of a modicum of power, reckon they can force their will on people.

Now a couple of weeks ago I predicted that the rejection of the Mount hot pools redevelopment by an independent commissioner would not be the final decision on the matter and the issue was heading towards an appeal.

Well, dear ratepayer, I was right.

Tauranga City Aquatics Limited has lodged an appeal against the ruling by Commissioner Greg Hill, who said the development shouldn't go ahead because its ``adverse effects on landscape, visual amenity, the loss of open space, and transportation - especially car parking'' outweighed any good to the community.

The new pools complex was going to cost us $7.5 million in extra rates or debt despite the fact 80 per cent of Tauranga residents oppose the redevelopment.

TCAL's appeal is going to waste one heck of a lot of money and an opponent of it - Cr Catherine Stewart - says if it is dragged out for a year, which is when it hits the Environment Court, costs could be in the region of $1 million.

Let's put that in to perspective.

To refurbish the hot pools to an acceptable level - which is the sensible, public-backed scenario - will cost about $2.2 million. The price includes disabled access, new filters and pipes, a new concourse, building a roof and a new carpark layout.

In other words, by lodging an appeal we could well waste half of the costs of modernising the pools in an exercise that may be defeated anyway.

Even more bemusing is the fact that TCAL - an operation one step removed from being an official council body - is going to be opposed by council planners.

They are obliged to back the commissioner's stance.

To put it succinctly, Tauranga ratepayers will not only have to pay for the costs of TCAL and its directors and staff, but also their appeal and - the people fighting it.

Talk about a lose-lose situation.

But not according to our civic leaders. At a closed-door meeting city councillors decided a costly appeal was necessary to ``stop the clock before the decision went final'' to allow for negotiations with objectors to the pool revamp.

Why?

Perhaps your local councillor can tell you.

*******

I AM truly gobsmacked by the lack of consideration of drivers in Bethlehem who cannot use their brain cell long enough to slow down at a pedestrian crossing.

A crossing near a school.

A crossing that is now rated so dangerous that Bethlehem School kids can no longer patrol it because cretins think their time is just soooo important they can put children's lives at risk.

Just who do these people think they are?

Not only are they morally reprehensible, they are breaking the law.

The situation is at the stage where drivers are abusing those wanting them to slow down. It has got so bad police are monitoring the situation and are filming the intersection and talking to drivers. Police say someone is going to be hurt if things continue.

Well, if that is the case, the cops need to do more. Police should instantly fine miscreants and issue them with demerit notices.

If that doesn't stop the morons, blinking well Taser them. They'll certainly stop after a few drivers are left fitting and moaning at the roadside.

*******

ISN'T IT fabulous that the Mount's Classic Flyers Museum is going to get a Skyhawk fighter plane courtesy of Helen Clark.

Ms Clark, the UN ambassador for bad haircuts, shot down Kiwland's air cover when her mob mothballed the Royal New Air Force's fighter wing many, many years ago.

Then loony Labour tried to sell it overseas but the deal fell through and so the jets were wrapped in plastic and allowed to waste away at the cost of millions of dollars a year in storage fees.

But, now, the Key Government has decided to end the saga, loaning us our very own Skyhawk down at Classic Flyers.

Yahoo, I'm putting my hand up for a flight.

Queue Top Gun music ... Whhhhooooooshhhhhh!!!!

richard@richardmoore.com