LETTERS & EMAILS

RICHARD NORTHEY’S EXPENSES AS CHAIR OF THE WAITEMATA LOCAL BOARD There has been considerable coverage of the matter of Richard Northey’s expenses as Chair of the Waitematā Local Board. My blogs on the matter have attracted over 500 views, which is considerably more than any other topic I have posted. This demonstrates the level of public concern.

On investigating further, I find the role of Chair of the Waitematā Local Board is a full-time one for which the incumbent is paid $96,000 pa. Richard Northey, the present incumbent, is also Chair of the Problem Gambling Foundation.

The five Trustees of the Foundation collectively receive $71,000 - it is normal that the Chair receives twice that of the other members which means that he would receive approx. $20,000.

His annual Disclosure of Interest does not disclose that the position he holds is a paid one nor the amount he receives. On the later point, I have emailed him asking that he disclose the amount he has received.

It would be ‘appropriate’ that he pay ratepayers whatever he has received from the Trust since taking up the Chair of the Board in October 2019 as an offset to his honorarium.

Keith McConnell www.keithforwaitemata.com

THE COUNCIL'S LEFT HAND DOES NOT KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT HAND IS DOING! While this is about an incident of glyphosate spraying in Parnell, I have also had glyphosate sprayed on me in Pt Chevalier and I have seen Facebook incidents of the same occurring in Garnet Road, Grey Lynn and other suburbs of Auckland.

On the morning of 30 September the spraying of glyphosate was videoed taking place on Gladstone Road in front of the Parnell Rose Gardens. This spraying took place into gutters where nothing was growing, but worse, occurred during wet and windy conditions. These conditions are contrary to manufacturers recommendations. I sent an official complaint to the Auckland Council website, along with the video.

On 7 October I received a phone call from a Council employee, Mr Karl Beaufort, Council Facilities Manager. During my long conversation with Mr Beaufort, he acknowledged the spraying of Round Up by this Council contractor was in breach of their contract and the issue “would be looked into and resolved”. Mr Beaufort confirmed by email: “Our contract with this particular contractor is very clear regarding the use of agri-chemicals. They are bound to follow the best practice guidelines for using agri-chemical in public spaces... The photos you supplied very clearly show that this contractor was applying glyphosate during wet weather which goes against the best-use requirements and was not applying it to control species or weeds within the road corridor”.

Mr Beaufort went on to say my complaint “records a valid contract breach....would be addressed at the contract level by the Council’s contract managers and they would request a written plan on how this would be prevented from happening again”.

On the morning of 20 October the same contractor was again videoed spraying in the same place under similar conditions. A further complaint was made, citing the previous complaint and the promised resolution.

Mr Karl Beaufort again replied on 12 November saying “... that following the last complaint where we confirmed we would address the poor performance from our contractor, they have since returned to the same location and undertaken the same activity in exactly the same conditions reported in your first complaint. This is not acceptable behaviour from our contractor and the matter has been referred to the contract manager to address through performance management within the contract bounds”.

To take this to an even more personal level, while out jogging along Pt Chevalier Road, I had the misfortune to run into the mist from a contractor who was spraying weeds in windy conditions. Stepping back I videoed the continued spraying and attached this video to yet another complaint to the Council.

The resulting reply, this time signed by Mr Don To’o, Facilities Manager, sought to convince me that, “The spray used in the road corridor is Bio Weed Blast which is approved under programmed works, we do not use glysophate”. He also went on to say, “The atmospheric conditions on the day were acceptable”. The fact that the video showed whole trees in motion, and the fact Mr To’o was not there and I was, leaves his comments in doubt. So, we have Council managers who on one hand confirm glyphosate use and another denying it.

I have alerted Auckland Council complaints to this behaviour. I feel totally dissatisfied with their responses and feel no sense of closure that they will stop this occurring again. This is the problem Council has with their ‘preferred contractors’. These contactors do not obey the rules knowing they will get the contract anyway and will continue to poison our environment.

Linda Hill, Concerned Citizen

EREBUS MEMORIAL It has been such a pleasure for me to meet the wonderful people who have been peacefully protecting the very undesirable site the prime minister has chosen to erect a memorial to the Erebus tragedy.

I say undesirable because there’s a big risk we will lose the ancient pohutukawa tree, which is a memorial in itself. I say undesirable because over 15,000 people have signed a petition saying they don’t want a plane crash memorial in the beautiful Dove Myer Robinson Park - a park that Auckland city dwellers use as their playground; they walk their dogs, they go there for picnics - a park that has sea views, beautiful roses, very noisy from traffic, trains, and the Auckland wharf. I see no resemblance to an air tragedy and wonder why it was chosen.

In 2018 I attended an Erebus Memorial Service and it was there I was informed by the Prime Minister along with the Mayor of Auckland that the Ponsonby Rose Gardens was the place where a memorial to the Erebus Tragedy would be built. This announcement caused a lot of objections from the many family members present that day. The Prime Minister did reply, “I’m hearing you". It is now nearing the 42nd Anniversary of the Erebus Disaster and she still has not responded to the petition that was presented to Government. She still has not heard the dedicated people who are protecting their park and the treasured pohutukawa tree.

I guess I have never got over from losing my father in the unnecessary and tragic way of the Erebus accident. Maybe it would be nice to have a memorial with his name on it, but not where it’s not wanted. Somewhere which is more relevant and where it’s wanted.

Margaret Brough, Tauranga

LETTERS CONTINUED ON P28