Last week commissioners began hearing submissions on what is the most significant change in Whangarei District Council planning rules in decades. Alarmingly, few people actually realise the new rules are in the pipeline. Hardly a word has been mentioned in the media, and the Council itself did not hold any public meetings to inform the public of the changes. Continue reading
Author Archives: Frank Newman
Spelling it out
Plan Change 94B Papakāinga is progressing through the planning process. Last Monday, those who had made written submissions had the opportunity to voice their opposition or support to the hearings panel. I presented a submission on behalf of a community group advocating landowner rights. That panel consisted of three commissioners; … Continue reading
Then, now, and into the future
I commented recently that there appeared to be little interest in the local body elections. That changed with the arrival of a team waging a serious challenge to the Whangarei District Council (WDC) with a full slate of candidates and a high profile campaign. http://www.gowhangarei.kiwi/ Among their policies is a nil … Continue reading
Property politics by Frank Newman
The general election is more than a year away but the battle lines are already forming. Two combatants, Labour and the Greens, have entered into a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together with the simple objective of ousting National from the treasury benches. It creates an interesting dynamic, given NZ First has repeated its view that it would not be part of a coalition that involved the Greens.
Now that Labour has stated a clear preference for the Greens, it makes a post-election coalition arrangement between Labour and NZ First less likely. NZ First also has a hard-line against working with the Maori Party (and any other party, which includes the Greens, that wants to put the Treaty of Waitangi as the core of our constitutional arrangements) so it is fast running out of dance partners; although it appears content to dance alone! The outcome of the next general election is already becoming set in stone, but more on that later.
If a Labour-Green coalition were to gain power, what would it mean for property investors? Continue reading