My Account
I started my professional life as a Council engineer and consents manager. Town planning and environmental impact reporting became strings to the bow. Roles with companies such as Fletcher Challenge led to project management of building developments and, later, becoming a consultant. This enabled me to shift to Stanmore Bay to a property my wife and I acquired in 1991.
What are the three crucial issues for the Coast?
1. Pillaging of our rates to prop-up ventures which do not benefit us, such as the ‘Brown Train Set’. When only 26 percent of our $84 million in rates is returned here, this is piracy.
2. Erosion of democracy. People are being ignored or not taken seriously because of a culture of arrogance and unhelpful attitudes. This is particularly so with Auckland Transport.
3. Poor town planning resulting in overcapacity of infrastructure (eg. sewers), roading (congestion is now critical) and no plan for a harbour crossing and rapid rail across the North Shore to Silverdale and Kaukapakapa rail-junction. Planning in the past has been a knee-jerk reaction. The Unitary Plan only adds to these problems.
How would you address these issues?
These issues are currently not handled by local boards. This has to change. We are not being given a local voice at Council level and infighting among Councillors (Brown supporters vs the rest) achieves nothing for our community.
These issues must be addressed by Local Board members in a collective manner and presented to Council and our elected representatives. It is also crucial that all boards unite as a single voice to express common concerns such as rates pillaging. I will seek redress on the issues of rates pillaging, Council accountability and transparency as to what is really happening with our rates.
I will push for the public to be able to voice their concerns in an effective democratic way through public meetings as a formal platform.
What do you hope to achieve?
I hope to achieve outcomes that are beneficial and fair to our local communities, and that honesty and integrity is brought back into the Council realm. That goodwill and kindness will ultimately exist in the community, and at Council and senior management level, for the benefit of all.
