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Cr Bill Faulkner Faulkners Corner www.sunlive.co.nz |
On Monday, I attended on behalf of council, the 50th anniversary commemoration service of the Aero Commander air crash on Mount Ruapehu on November 21, 1961.
Six people died in the crash of the Bay of Plenty Airways Ltd flight on the Wellington, Rotorua and Tauranga route.
The airline was the first scheduled, locally owned one to fly out of Tauranga.
It was started by Alf Bartlett and he had flown the Aero Commander, a twin engined plane, from the United States – a big deal in those days.
The distinctive snarl this aircraft made was an iconic part of Tauranga in the early ‘60s as it wound-up for take-off.
On still mornings it was an effective wake-up call for our household which lived up by Monmouth Redoubt.
On that fateful day, the starboard wing fell off as it flew over Mount Ruapehu and everyone onboard, including Alf Bartlett, was killed.
It was a devastating incident for the small community Tauranga and Mount Maunganui was in those days.
As was the want of the powers that be, pilot error was the official explanation even though the wing was found some distance away from the rest of the wreckage.
Once again, careful research by a dedicated volunteer unearthed a structural defect that showed an inherent wing fault in the Aero Commander.
This undoubtedly saved many other Aero Commanders and passengers from a similar fate.
A few years ago, another Aero Commander disappeared on a run from Sydney to Lord Howe Island.
Monday's service was held at Classic Flyers and a permanent display of the crash is there together with a memorial plaque which was unveiled at the end of the ceremony.
Spite spat solved
I was back at council in the afternoon for a marathon meeting that ran over the allowed six hours and elected members had to vote themselves more time to get through the agenda.
These long meetings may not be the most effective way to get sound, balanced and reasoned decisions!
First issue was a lengthy debate about access for six Concord Avenue houses through their back fences onto a small ‘recreation reserve' strip of land adjoining Berescourt Place.
Colloquially known as a ‘spite' strip in real estate parlance, its purpose it was claimed, was to stop this access onto Berescourt Place.
The arguments raged back and forth between residents present at the meeting and Mayor Stuart Crosby had to intervene.
It's easy to see both sides of the issue.
On the one hand, the Berescourt Place residents see it as a legal barrier and the Concord Ave residents say that as a recreational reserve they should have access.
In the end, council voted 6-5 to allow pedestrian access only and vehicle access and parking on the strip of land would be prohibited – by yellow lines and bollards.
Pools refurb checked in
Mount Hot Pools refurbishment that many elected members were expecting to be completed during the recent four month closure will proceed.
About $200,000 worth, including painting, spa pool reinstatement, car park and change rooms upgrade.
I was overjoyed to learn that the resource consent fro the Hot Pools expires in November 2012 and cost to renew is about $20,000. For what?
Some of this resource consent renewal stuff is a rort, imposed by successive governments that the mafia would be proud of.
And National promised they would deal to the excesses of the RMA processes?
Give and take on rates
A bid for rates relief for leaky homeowners failed 10-1 with only Terry Molloy wanting to help.
Rates are inherently unfair, inequitable and unsustainable most people agree.
So if you discern unfairness to one sector, then what about the next sector?
When you ‘give' to one sector you have to ‘take' from the rest!
Cut braced for emergency
Harrisons Cut, a beach access road and car park area at Papamoa will be made available to Rena container salvors Braemar for contingency purposes.
This means only when there is no option will containers be brought ashore through there.
A number of residents from the area attended and shared with council a thorough presentation by Braemar of what they did.
These salvors appear to know what they are doing and showed pictures of previous similar shipping disasters.
Only one resident said she was unhappy with the possible disruption at the end of the presentation.
All others seemed satisfied with the proposal and accepted that some understanding was needed.
Beach access will be maintained if at all possible, and if not, alternate access would be provided if practical.
Route K tolls up
Route K tolls are rising to $1.50 from January 1 as council tries to patch a deal with the NZ Transport Agency to take over this road.
Catherine Stewart and Murray Guy opposed the increase, saying the toll should not be renewed.
If this was done the only option facing council is for the debt (around $58 million) to be rate funded.
This would mean a rate increase of 5-6 per cent. And NZTA is then highly unlikely to pick it up – why would they?
The road is there and they probably wouldn't mind someone else providing this essential link to our city and New Zealand's leading port.
At least with tolls they get a revenue flow that will, in time, eventually pay for the road. In my view this is a moral, as well as a legal issue.
Had council not bought the land this corridor would have been lost for all time, as developers had indicated they were interested in it.
Even though Route K only carries 5000-6000 vehicles per day, try putting that traffic back on to Cameron Road today.
This road should be toll free and an integral part of New Zealand's roading network.
After all, we all pay for roads through many taxes!
This week's mindbender from the great sage ‘anonymous' – ‘As a general rule, prosperity is what keeps us in debt.'