Have the Council declared war on the ratepayers and forgotten to tell us?

Earlier this year I was forced to cough up several thousand dollars to FNDC for parking and roading impacts of a completely code complying development in Mangonui.

I spent some money putting in nicely paved footpaths where none existed before and also pointed out that there were more carparks provided than the dwelling owners have yet to use. Nevertheless the money was demanded and duly paid.

I have waited to see what this investment would produce in the way of improved driving or parking experience for my fellow residents of Mangonui and up until last week there was nothing. No sign of the promised roadway widening and additional carparks opposite the Mangonui Boozer. Nothing I could see for the dosh.

Just the usual wide-open spaces as the crowds have flocked elsewhere. With the exception of a few days before Christmas and most of January, there are always more carparks in Mangonui than there are people to fill them. In fact most days of the year you can park a logging truck in Mangonui.

Of course if you are delivering groceries or mail to the Four Square in the morning in a big truck, you have to block the road due to the idiotic paved area with bollards right where the loading bay should be, but even then there are empty parks in other parts of town.

But this week the residents of Mangonui did receive something from FNDC for our rates and development levies. What’s more it arrived unannounced without the public notices and consultation that the rest of us have to go through. To the best of my knowledge it even arrived without consultation with the iwi, a complete no/no for mere mortals.

And what did we get? Well, not quite what I had in mind for all that money!

What we got was a parking infringement notice writer all dressed up in the uniform of a security company. What the residents got were a series of parking tickets for exceeding P30 and P120 notices that nobody had ever either noticed before or worried about before. Oddly enough you can park 24/7 right outside the Four Square guided by roading lines that the residents put in and paid for themselves, but only for 120 minutes apparently right outside apartments where people dwell and which don’t have any alternative parks.

What is this messenger telling us? What problem is he solving? Why have the council declared war on us without warning us? At least Bainimarama told the Fijians he was coming.