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JW67

179 comments · +2,396 / −1,033 · rank #648 of 40,276

Id like to see a full breakdown on how councils can justify these costs. For the most part it just involves some data entry and rubber stamping, which for the best part may take a council official a couple of hours. Given a position such as that may involve a official on $40 hour, how on earth do they come up with consents costing many thousands. Since when did councils become commercial enterprises and expect to create profit from those that elected them to serve.

+119−2

As has been mentioned by various commentators and the article itself, the majority are opposed the decision made by the Board. So what are you waiting for, the Board appears vastly outnumbered here, take back control and kick them out.Its like anything here in NZ, small groups and committees make decisions without consultation against the will of the majority and we do nothing except complain to the media. Turn up on mass at the next meeting and physically remove these clowns if they dont get the message to step down.

+48−0

Although I firmly believe farmers should make all mitigating steps to keep stock out of waterways, making your complaint via social media is a gutless response. If you have strong views, talk face to face with the person, do not hide like a cowardly little keyboard warrior.Im sure talking about your concerns directly with the farmer may yield a better result and likely both sides may learn a thing or two.

+30−4

I support a compulsory second language taught in schools, but I do not support it being compulsory te reo. The second language should be what the student chooses, be that French, Manderin, German, Italian or Te reo.Its rather embarrassing visiting Europe and finding 10 year olds that speak 3 languages fluently, when thanks to our poor educational curriculum, many struggle with even our basic English language skills.

+26−1

Well hundreds of thousands of Kiwis enjoy a smoke in their off-time and they all turn up for work in a productive way. If you are assuming legalisation will suddenly mean every cannabis user will light up whilst having their cornflakes in the morning before heading off to work, then you may be suffering a slight case of uninformed paranoia.

+27−4

Unfortunately, DoC have been so underfunded for years that they probably cannot afford to take on even free gifts of land such as this.If they are given land with any firm of infrastructure such as tracks, roads, structures etc. They then have to pay depreciation on the asset, so that nice 2km track made by volunteers ends up costing them out of their operational budget. Money that could have been used for other existing maintence projects.Sometimes a free gift costs more than you can afford to spend.

+29−7

So do Family First sit down and count out every individual act of violence on every single TV show? Or are they like every other religious based organisation, more offended by natural naked bodies than they are images portraying death and violence.I pity the future of the children of the parents of such groups, morally brainwashed.

+26−5

Any large rural landowner with half an ounce of intelligence, should by now have constructed their own water storage dam on their property. After all, Nelson already has received its annual rainfall total for this year, so the next 4 months supply would be a bonus. Sort out your own solutions to your own problems.

+19−2

reorient in a way that is more focused on the fast-moving pace of technology is gobbledegook for saying we want to increase the workload on the remaining employees in order to squeeze more profit out of the company for our fat-cat investors

+17−1

No, but if the natural environment is no longer suitable for growing particular crops, then they need to adapt to crops that require less irrigation or invest in new growing technologies such as what they have done in the Netherlands, which uses only 10% of the water requirements traditional outdoor crops do. Maybe apples and some of the horticultural crops would be better grown in other districts with a higher rainfall and suitable climate.

+18−2

Because it is the product that is being smoked. One is a natural herb smoked without any additional chemicals added and has proven health benefits, the other has 7,000 chemicals with at least 69 of these chemicals known to cause cancer, and many more are poisonous.Youre comparing apples with oranges.

+18−3

Good grief, if Paris, Rome and many other large European cities with their volume of pedestrians, can cope happily with e-scooters, Segways, e-wheels and e-bikes, what is it about little old NZ that puts our authorities in a tizzy every-time something new arrives on the scene. Will our councils not be happy until they have regulated every single activity we partake in.

+21−7

Rather ironic we romanticize the whole OE experience of living off the smell of a oily rag in a foreign land. Partaking in typical kiwi activities whilst there, such as the traditional pub crawl on ANZAC day, ending in the usual messy drunken result.This to many, is a right of passage, its character building and a Kiwi tradition. Yet our dark zenophobic side emerges the moment we get wind of a similar aged young person doing exactly the same thing, leaving their own country to experience life in NZ, usually on a very limited budget.The pitchforks are raised and the torches lit by the angry mobs, how can we allow these freeloaders who choose a diet of instant noodles over filet steak, who choose to sleep in their van or in a tent as opposed to contribute to our economy by staying at a Hilton hotel.We really can be a hypocritical bunch down here at the bottom of the world.

+21−8

Ive stayed in apartments in Amsterdam, Paris and Rome which were on the 5th or 6th floor where access was stair only and people walk or bike everywhere around the cities to do their day to day business.Here we drive everywhere, we expect elevators for anything more than one floor and we wonder why we are one of the top obese nations in the world.

+17−4

Well unfortunately, drug testing for meth is pretty ineffective. It cannot be detected after 48 hours at most, so unless you test every employee pretty much every day, you dont have much of a chance.

+12−0

This case is not about developers who create subdivision for multiple properties in order to turn a profit. This is about a couple wanting to built an additional structure on their own property to house a family member displaced by a natural disaster. Councils need to stop grouping everyone in the same basket and using people as cash cows.

+13−2

Isnt the logic being that construction workers, forestry, fishermen, firefighters, police, paramedics,truckies, engineers, road workers, mechanics and dozens of other sectors around NZ, not work as hard and be under the same extreme pressures that the delicate mushrooms aka. teachers, face every day.Only real difference being they hold the decisive bargaining chip that being children.

+16−5

Just the other day when driving between two major cities, I was probably averaging 130kmh and at times accelerating to 160kmh to safely pass slower traffic. The road surface was good, road design excellent and other drivers courteous enough to move into the other lane when they saw me approaching.Will be a shame to leave Europe and come back to NZ, with its low quality roads and poor driving attitudes.

+14−4

How has it ruined lives? the drug itself causes no harm, in fact it has many positive medical benefits that have been widely used over many centuries by many different cultures.If you are referring to it ruining lives because in its current illegal form, people have had to associate with gangs and organised crime in order to obtain their cannabis, then yes you may be correct on that front.

+14−5

Nothing wrong with most of the overseas food we import, just because its grown elsewhere on the planet, its still good. Imaginary borders drawn on a map does not affect the quality.Beside, without imports, say goodbye to coffee, chocolate, nuts, fruits etc. Our diet would be rather bland without them.

+10−1

Im sorry but banning patches, community meetings, strongly worded articles in the local newspaper, dont waste youre time.Look at every other town and city in this country, Im sure they have tried the same civil method, has it made one piece of difference?Unfortunately, the solution is unpalatable to most and shunned by the authoties. You want them out, you fight fire with fire, use fear, intimidating and if need be, violent methods to drive them out. Its the only language they understand and given the good citizens out number the bad, a method that will drive them away. If not, they will be here to stay and you will just have to accept being a victim for the rest of your life.

+12−3

So I guess you pay someone to come and mow your lawn, because doing so yourself is denying a business an income, maybe you also have cleaners come into your house and clean it every other day, because you would rather do your bit for the economy and doing such tasks yourself would be just plain selfish.Then again, if you do such chores around the house yourself, it sort of makes your comment a tad hypocritical.

+11−3

When are people going to fight back against pointless regulations imposed by government and local authorities in this country.Using submissions and other such mechanisms created by the very same authorities does nothing but pay lip service. We as a nation are steadily sleepwalking into totalitarian control, times are coming when we need to confront those that we put in charge in a more direct fashion.

+8−0

The last time I saw the aftermath of DoC Thar culling, using shotguns out of helicopters resulting in many maimed animals and slow painful deaths.Do we really want this type of inhumane operation to occur once again. Just because the animals are not native to our land, is no reason to justify this cruel ineffective control method.

+15−8

Suspect you had a student loan well over twenty years ago, where extra money was just a phone call away. For the past couple of decades, student loan money was tightly regulated, uni fees paid directly from the loan to the learning institution, a flat amount available for books etc and if required, a weekly amount (usually much less than $200/week) to cover accommodation was available if you were unable to secure a student allowance.

+7−0

I lined up for an hour to get into the Louve in Paris, two hours to get thru the doors of the Vatican museum in Rome. So a 30 minute wait is nothing to see another world class view or attraction.

+7−1

Next we will have the producers of mass cheese, such as Mainland, claim their products are exactly the same as artisan produced cheese. They may share the same singular source ingredient, but for quality and taste, no comparison to the artisan produced cheese. The same applies to bread and many other food products.

+9−3

From the Ministry of Education website..Schools are not expected to take on responsibility for all students travelling to and from school.So schools do not have the authority to dictate what sort of raincoat, or any other article of clothing a student wears until they reach the school gate.

+6−0

How, so we will have two languages to only converse amongst ourselves with, while still lacking any ability to communicate with those from other countries.Im in Italy at present and have found a large majority of local Italians speak English as a second language, many also speak French and German as well. How useful would it be to them if instead of English as a second language, they only learn Latin. Might give some the warm fuzzies, but in todays world, worthless and impracticable.

+7−1

Even seen the aftermath of the young kiwis and aussies doing the annual pub crawl on Anzac day in London.It makes the supposed freedom camper issue here in NZ pale in comparison.

+6−0

Military bases in over 70 countries, 20 million lives lost resulting from wars, direct invasions, military coups and intelligence operations since the end of WW2. Corrupt government led by a mentally deranged leader and a brainwashed population.Oh wait, I thought when someone was making refence to a dangerous, evil empire, we were referencing the one that actually is. China does not even come close.

+37−32

Given this council has put in place bylaws against freedom camping, using the argument amongst other things that they use their region as an open toilet. It seems a tad hypocritical given the thousands of litres of human waste they are currently pumping onto the beach and into the ocean.As usual with local government, do as I say, not as I do.

+7−2

Happy to see it in the hands of small business such as cannabis cafes. Really nice vibe being able to relax in such an atmosphere with other people. If its legalized, we should not have to hide away only allowed to smoke behind closed doors in our own home. Keep it social, let small business, not corporate supply it.

+6−1

The fan base working out of the basement at the US embassy in Wellington. They are under the delusion that if they can provide enough positive spin toward their dear leader, the rest of us will follow suit. After all, as with all propaganda, they feed on peoples fear of thinking and believing differently from the 0ly created masses.

+8−4

The devistation caused to places like Marahau in the recent cyclone and several years back in the Tapawere region, came from forestry land managed by very experienced personnel in large corporate forestry companies. I cannot see how blaming the age of the staff at this particular company, has any real merit. Rather it sounds more like sour grapes due to someone who may have lost out in the interview process for a job they applied for.

+6−2

I sorry, the rural managers who came across from local fire authorities, aka mostly local and regional councils, did not have their utes transferred across to the new FENZ organisation last year. Hence why vehicles were needed to be provided to them. Bit difficult to undertake you work doing fire permitting inspection, fire reduction and responding to rural vegetation fires in often remote and difficult to reach areas if you do not have the tools to get you there. The good old PFU, always quick to moan and totally adverse to change of any kind, still living in 1974.

+3−0

Recently had to buy a couple of tickets for a trip from Europe back to NZ, using the various websites to find and compare fares, on each and every one, Air NZ was the most expensive airline by a long shot.So buggar loyalties, Qatar Air is getting my business and from all reviews Ive seen, offer a superior service to boot.

+5−2