Dave Stewart

If one thing has characterised the local body election campaign this year it has been the number of times those of us on the side of facts, truth and honesty have had to correct the deliberate misinformation churned out by people without real policies.

In The Beacon issue of September 17, A Broxholme recycles the nonsense regarding the boat harbour “millions” and Rex Morpeth Park “$100 million” development, and endorses a less democratic and more authoritarian approach from the next mayor, as long as it’s the one he wants and not one of the other five.

Again, the boat harbour “millions” was not ratepayer’s money, it was Harbour Fund money and again, the truth about Rex Morpeth is as follows:

“As a result of the LTP process, including public engagement and submissions, councillors ultimately agreed the following parameters for the future investment into the Rex Morpeth Recreational Hub":

• Integrate a stop/go decision-making point into the 2027/28 Long Term Plan regarding the Rex Morpeth Recreation Hub’s redevelopment budget.
• Retain budget allocation for co-funding the Rex Morpeth Recreation Hub project.
• Prioritise health and safety, making the building watertight, and functionality-focused improvement works during the next four years, up to $7.8 million.
• Finalise the master plan for the hub and explore the feasibility of a separate indoor court facility.
• Develop an external funding plan before the next Long Term Plan.
• Advance discussions with potential partners for the Rex Morpeth Recreation Hub redevelopment.

This campaign of lies and misinformation has found it’s way into the election campaign meetings now and the problem is that candidates have a limited time to address audiences with their policies and vision for a better Whakatāne, without having to correct politically motivated BS.

It’s frustrating to be diverted by deliberate misinformation.

The question must be asked that if candidates don’t have policies to offer, why are they standing?