Raglan Politics

Raglan Community Board Chair Ross Wallis joins us to talk about this week's board meeting discussing local buses, harbor board lease land, rubbish and what's happening with council staff turnover.

We look at a few local things happening like a road closure on Whaanga Road and the new cell phone tower before looking at the recent Local Government Conference in Rotorua where Minister Simon Watts received a frosty reception from the assembled Mayors and Councillors.

First time political candidate and Raglan local Phil McCabe is in studio to talk about his experience on the road around the Taranaki King Country electorate and his hopes for the Green Party this election.

We talk about the resignation of the council Chief Executive, the Long Term Plan, Wainui Reserve Plan dates, a survey showing council staff across Australasia are disengaged and we ask what questions Lisa has for the election candidate who will be at our meeting in the town hall on Sunday 18th.

Mayor Aksel Bech joins us to talk about the council merger pause and the effect of the Taxpayers Union on council issues like the rates cap. We also look at what the cap means for out council spending, whether we can get a bed tax for Raglan - plus we talk through the Raglan Lawns fallout.

As well as the shock news from the government yesterday we look the Raglan Lawns situation, the return of the WSL, Wainui Reserve, the long term spending plan and this week's film 1978

We talk about the Raglan Community Board meeting, Wainui Reserve, Council funds, the Long Term Plan, and a quick look at the bus situation.

With the rates cap coming into force the community board is wanting to know which council services are most important to local ratepayers.

Lisa Thomson joins us to talk about plans to cut council spending and what this means for the the services we get. We also talk about the WSL, the Voice & Choice committee and next week's Community Board meeting

John Lawson joins us in the studio as we look at council spending (and costs cutting) plans. Plus John has the announcement of a Green Party candidate from Whaingaroa.

In a wide ranging discussion that takes us through the council merger process, moves to further reduce council powers, the IAWAI Waters bill we talk about the change that are happening around local government and try to unpick the driving forces for these changes.

The government's rushed council merger process appears to have pitted council's against each other with Taupo vehemently opposed to a plan developed by Waikato District to combine the five river councils into a single Unitary Authority. How did relationships suddenly get strained near the end of the process and can each council's fears be soothed? We also took about the multi-decade effort to get...

Not much is happening at the District Council so John Lawson has been checking out the Regional Council staff's attempts to educate their Councillors about climate change. We also look at transport issues and whether Raglan is preparing properly for it's expected growth.

John's back on the Morning Show to look at local council issues, plus we accidentally start looking at a bit of national politics and then run out of things to talk about because councils are so busy working on the government's merger program they haven't spent much time on their usual business.

Following the Community Board meeting on Wednesday we talk to Chairperson Ross Wallis about: The new cell phone tower, Te Uku Subdivision, WSL feedback, discretionary fund grants, constant staffing turnover within council, Manu Bay boat ramp and the proposed council mergers.

With just a few days left for councils to decide who they're going to merge with we talk to Waikato Mayor Aksel Bech about who's in who's out of his plan for a Western Waikato Council. We also discuss a solution to the fears around the rural/city divide which is still dominating discussions. We catch Mayor Aksel immediately before of a meeting with the Mayor's of Waipa and South Waikato where they...

There's not much happening at council aside from the focus on the governmandated merges so we get a good look at that before talking about speed limit changes in Whatawhata and well that's about it

Council is still doing it's normal business, including Mayoral Awards, road closures, planning for the long term spending plan and figuring out details like how much we charge Maui Dolphin Day organisers to use Papahua for their event.

Waikato District Council is settling on a merger plan that includes the councils in the west of our region that form the Waikato River Catchment. Lisa Thomson joins us in the studio to talk about this decision and whether the other councils are interested in joining.

With restructures going on both inside council and outside with the council mergers, our Community Board Chairperson is struggling to get work done but there has been movement on the new cell phone tower problem, Manu Bay boatramp and the board has been submitting on the council merger issues.

Councillor Mike Keir joins us to look at how cutting rates could negatively impact our roads. He talks about the new roading contract at council, how often roads should receive maintenance and whether council can get away with cutting rates by being smarter with the spending. We talk about the recent controversy at council where Mike ended up in hot water for repairing a footpath without final app...

John Lawson joins us to talk about problems with the way buses were planned for Raglan plus we look in at the council merger process and cuts that are being planned for council services in the new long term spending plan.

What are we going to tell our council to do with the government's council merger program? Tony Mayow, former Council Manager and Community Development Activist, is back in the studio to help us figure out what a good council might actually look like.

Lisa joins us ahead of the Strengthening Our Voice In Local Government event this Sunday at 2pm in the Town Hall. We talk about the options facing our community and how the governments merger process will work, what the answered questions are and how people can have their say.

Mayor Aksel joins us in the midst of a hurried tour around the district talking to communities about what they want out of the council merger plans. We find out the latest thinking from the region's Mayors as well as the popular sentiment amongst ratepayers - and discuss the options currently on the table.