Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz

Most political columnists, who are also councillors, write columns that are informative, educational and naturally supportive of their councils.

Few readers challenge these offerings and any debate that may have been stirred is rarely evident in the media. I was quite pleased when the mayor challenged my first effort at providing the council with feedback. He accused me of writing twisted council documents. I am still writing a year later and the council's public statements are still just as twisted and difficult to understand. This week, in Paterson's Patch, the mayor's offerings seemed clear and concise covering three topics, but the twist comes in when the topics are compared. Council finance problems, big project spending, bluster and game playing with public consultation is revealed.

Money: The drop ball

The council is broke. The mayor plays this down, claiming that council is continuing to cut its cloth. They started cutting at least two years too late and they are still boasting of their big council spend-ups. We have the Katikati Town Centre multi-million library ready to start, a determined effort to continue with the Kauri Point boat ramp/roll on-roll off ferry terminal and The Dave Hume Pool project promotion this week open for public consultation. We are talking more than $20 million. Where is the cutting of any cloth? They seem to be in cloud cuckoo land.

Consultation: The googly

Hidden behind the hand until the last minute with no real clue to direction.

Council has paid more than $600,000 for the library site with money they just found in a couple of accounts. The $6 million project is to be paid for out of targeted rates for Katikati. We are being given a gift, but we will have to pay for it. We were consulted. We put it last on our list of thirteen priorities, but it was top in their list and the result of consultation and a number of changed plans since have never been made public. The Dave Hume Pool will be serving an area from Waihi Beach to Omokoroa, so all of these areas will have to pay targeted rates for the project. Again, any consultation is not about these projects. It is just used for confirming how much we are willing to pay for them.

Free ball

Kauri Point has been under consultation for 10 years. Everyone who sails a boat has said no. Katikati said no, Waihi Beach said no, but the project continues. There can't be any agreement on targeted local rates. The money will have to come from somewhere – $100,000 has been budgeted for each of the last three years for consultation and planning and with similar amounts every year since 2002. The mayor talks of intending to have consultation within the Long Term Plan, but he never intended to consult. A couple of weeks ago, councillors opposed the motion to approve the plan and the referral to the LTP was a last ditch attempt for council to save their project. Consultation with a select group of Maori starts this week, but they bypassed Tuapiro Maori who had stated publicly and at council that they were against the boat ramp. Tuapiro had never been consulted on the ramp at any stage. This expensive project has gone on for 10 years with no public approval and is obviously for people who haven't arrived yet. This sounds like a repeat of Omokoroa.

Under arm bowling

Both the boat ramp and the Katikati library are very hush-hush – with council claiming commercial sensitive partnerships with developers as an excuse for their increased secrecy and censorship. A partner with the Tauranga City programme is publicly recognised as such and is supported, but the council policy warns that being a partner does not grant priority for any tendering contract.

There is no equivalent policy in the Western Bay. The latest revelations on the Matakana machinations have been a surprise to many councillors. Even they have not been kept informed, though deals and promises have been negotiated, collapsed and renegotiated for 20 years.

The findings of the current appeal for the development of the island are expected in December. Flamboyant, big picture, high-budget projects were the signs of imminent collapse of many investment companies recently. Anyone who listened to their rhetoric, believed it and contributed money, learned a major lesson to their cost almost immediately.

I still have had no reply from council on what their special achievements have been this year. Most people I ask just shake their heads. Your observations on council achievement, how they can improve and what topics need urgent action are still welcome by next Monday. Phone 07 549 2962 or email sunwesternfront@yahoo.co.nz