Cr Gordon Brown writes:
Opinion: It was another mammoth effort with 22 items and a few items that would have been better off waiting until after the elections, in just 10 days.
The main item of controversy was a request from TAFT (the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust), which runs WOMAD, for a grant from NPDC (you, the ratepayers) of $550,000. While the money would be coming out of a reserves fund of $750,000, I argued that was not the point.
The reality wasm we were literally 10 days from the end of the term. As such, we should NOT be making the decision to give away more than half a million dollars of ratepayers’ money. There are two Council meetings scheduled between the election and Christmas, allowing the new council plenty of time to evaluate the request and make an informed decision.
I pointed out to my colleagues we have had 1,084 days to make this decision this term, but with only 10 days to go we did NOT have the moral authority to give that much money away.
I was, naturally, supported by Max Brough and Murray Chong who moved an amendment to give TAFT half of the dough ($275k) to tide them over, and for the new council to decide on the balance. That was easily defeated after debate was prematurely shouted down by Anneka Carlson and the Mayor, with Max, Murray and me, supported by Tony Bedford.
Then the original motion was carried, with only THREE dissenting votes. Max and Murray voted to abstain, and I voted against it.
So there folks, the Spenders prevailed yet again.
FYI WOMAD was cancelled for 2026 after three significant, successive losses.
The NPDC staff report said the money was “to support their (TAFT’s) future sustainability.”
