Wellington.Scoop report by Jem Traylen
The Wellington City Council is being accused of underhand tactics after sacking a volunteer group which had been monitoring the inner-city’s CCTV safety cameras.
Sarah and David Webb, from residents’ group Inner-City Wellington, told a council Strategy and Policy Committee meeting last week that in March last year, without consultation, the council replaced the 50 volunteers with its own employees.
“It was extremely underhand the way it was done,” said Sarah Webb.
She said the official reason was because of technology, but that issue had been resolved, and the real reason was to protect the city’s reputation.
Wellington.Scoop report by Jem Traylen
Hutt City ratepayers will be paying more than the council’s headline figure of a 5.9 percent rates increase next year, prompting accusations that it is misleading the public.
Former Hutt City councillor Max Shierlaw said the publicised increase did not include a new targeted rate for rubbish and recycling, and the council’s budget showed that rates would be going up by 14.88 percent overall.
The Hutt City Council is consulting residents on its Ten Year or “Long-Term” Plan. It projects total rates income will increase from $113.3 million to $130.1 million – a 14.88 percent increase.
However, its consultation document states: “For 2021/22 we are proposing an overall 5.9 percent increase in rates revenue. This equates to an average increase of $2.50 per week per household or $130 per annum.”
Wellington.Scoop report by Mary Argue
Shake Rattle and Roll, Tuesday’s comedy fundraiser for Parkinson’s, was a somewhat diabolical success. The event shattered not only Parkinson’s stereotypes, but also shone light on other “taboo topics” such as menopause and the sex-lives of the over sixties.
The gig, held at Wellington’s gay bar Ivy, was an intimate affair with about 60 ticket holders squeezing into the low-ceilinged basement.
It featured local comedians James Nicolle and Kitty Fitton who have both been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s, and also Neil Thornton of the New Zealand Comedy School and comedy titan Michele A’Court.
Marion Leader, 1. January 2021, 9:04
Georgina Campbell in the New Zealand Herald is the only other commentator on the Wellington City Council who serves us nearly as well as Wellington.Scoop.
wendy, 1. January 2021, 10:21
Absolutely agree Lindsay. We don’t need another”creative storyteller” as there are enough of them already in the council. If anything, the council needs a lot less ‘storytelling’ and a great deal more action to solve the enormous problems facing the city.
Traveller, 1. January 2021, 10:25
The Economic Agency has got it right with its images and its list of seaside cafés.
aom, 1. January 2021, 10:43
But they missed the best one – The Beachhouse! Also has fabulous views of the tame, moderate or wild Cook Strait.
by Lindsay Shelton
What a strange year. “Our” Wellington Phoenix moved to Australia and we were all sent invitations via twitter to watch their games in Woollongong. Not that we could actually travel there. There was however no immediate sign that they were planning to become the Woollongong Phoenix.
For almost all of us, domestic flights were the only possibility, if we felt a yen for travel. And we’ve accepted the need to wear masks on planes. But not on buses or trains.
We haven’t adjusted so well to the need for covid scanning. Every time I paused to scan at a shop entrance this week, several people have hurried through the doors without stopping to register.