Andrew von Dadelszen Former Regional Councillor

Let me commend the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust for divesting 6.4 per cent of its holding in Trustpower.

This $154.8 million divestment makes compelling commercial sense, as this trust is a cornerstone community fund that needs to be properly diversified.

The investment in Trustpower by TECT has been a very rewarding one for TECT beneficiaries since it was established in 1993.

But during the last five years Trustpower's earnings have been flat at best, and therefore I commend our TECT Trustees for initiating this diversification.

The TECT trustees' challenge will be to invest this freed up $154.8m effectively. The track record of some other community trusts like BayTrust, which was established upon the sale of Trustbank, has not been impressive.

We will monitor TECT's future performance with real interest, as this $800m-plus community fund needs to be managed with care to ensure Tauranga residents continue to strongly benefit in the future.

I'm sorry, but I can't be so generous with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

While deliberating on the Regional Long Term Plan our regional councillors were informed that Rotorua residents are paying $8m in rates, yet receive $20m in benefits.

The difference of $12m is effectively coming from the pockets of Tauranga and Western Bay ratepayers.

As I've said before: I have no issue with unbalanced funding in any one or two years. But this has been happening for the last 10 years, and the regional council's LTP indicates it is their intention to continue this practice for at least the next 10 years.

Tauranga City residents and ratepayers need to rise up in unison and stop this wrought. Our locally elected regional councillors need to be held to account. This is plain wrong.

If you have a view on these or any other local government issues, I invite you to email me at andrew@vond.co.nz , or visit www.vond.co.nz