Stratford councillors swamped with written pleas in lead-up to Māori ward decision
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Drinks on the ratepayer? Yeah, nah, Stratford councillors say
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They had twice, once in August and once in March after the law allowing a binding referendum changed, pushed out making a decision on the matter. “A hāngī needs to get put down,” Clive Tongaaw’ikau, the chair of Araukuku hapū, said. “I feel like I’ve climbed a mountain, and I’m running down.”
ANDY JACKSON/Stuff Tongaaw’ikau spoke at the meeting and led haka and waiata throughout the morning. “I don’t know how to put it into words,” he said, throwing his arms in the air with a grin. He said the thought of his district being the odd one out in Taranaki history had saddened him.
Simon O Connor/Stuff
Stratford district councillors have made their recommendations for the district’s long-term plan, which will be adopted in June. (File photo)
Despite the majority of Stratford local submissions supporting their council’s four main projects, just two have been favoured by elected members. At the Stratford District Council s long-term plan hearing this week, councillors unanimously recommended spending $2.4 million on installing household water meters, and that a second council-led subdivision go ahead. But the majority were against green and food waste bins, despite being the district that sends the most waste to landfill each year. Stratford households send 580 kilograms of waste to landfill each year, more than twice the amount sent by homes in New Plymouth.