Great forest trees do not live just for themselves. That is true of all species actually.

Every living being is part of an interconnected web of life, a moment in a never-ending flow of energy, each one contributing to the integrity of the whole.

The great trees though, like the rimu, the totara, the kauri, the miro, the puriri, these are more than just a part of the web.

They are key nodes, cornerstones of the ecosystems of which they are part, a haven for birds and bats, for insects, epiphytes, lichen and moss.

That famous question that asks: ‘if a tree falls in the forest and no-one is there to hear it, did it make a sound?’ is nonsensical.

When a tree falls, the whole forest hears it, or more accurately feels it, not just through the many ears that live there but through the multitudinous connections of mycelia, insects and birds that science is still struggling to understand.

In some ways, the forest is one living entity, as is each tree and bush that makes it up, and every cell that makes up each tree. As is the planet itself.

The same is true of people. We are all part of the social fabric, and our deeds ripple out from us in ways we can never fully understand to influence the world around us.

We are, all of us, more influential than we know. But there are some individuals who are like the canopy trees in a forest, of a grand stature that gives comfort and shelter to those around them.

Four great people of this ilk have fallen in the past few weeks. I attended the tangi and funeral of two of them, but it was not my place to speak, so I would like to offer a brief acknowledgement here.

The first is Tā Hirini Moko Mead, a scholar, strategist and leader not just for his own people of Ngāti Awa, but for all the people of Aotearoa.

E te puna mātauranga, e te pou tokomanawa, kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. Moe mai rā.

The second is Malcolm Campbell, past mayor of Kawerau and Bay of Plenty Regional Councillor.

Campbell was a fierce advocate for the Kawerau community, known for his blunt talk and his love for his people.

Rest in peace my friend.

The third and fourth are not locals, but their loss deserves a mention even so.

Professor Whatarangi Winiata of Ngāti Raukawa and Tā Tamati Reedy of Ngāti Porou were both leaders of the highest calibre.

I know that many from this district travelled to attend their respective tangi, and so we farewell them and acknowledge their passage from this realm.

Haere, haere, haere atu rā.

Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate, te hunga ora ki te hunga ora.

Every mighty tree must eventually fall. That is the way of all things.

It is the gap they leave in the canopy that allows sunlight to reach the forest floor and new growth to flourish.

This cycle of life and death, of renewal, growth, maturity and decay, is the bittersweet blessing of being alive.

As I enter my 61st year, I find myself reflecting on the hourglass of my own life, uncertain of when it will run out of sand.

What things do I want to spend my remaining years on and what will I leave behind?

Among these ponderings – I do not know how many years I will get to be mayor of this beautiful place, but in that time, here are some things that your councillors and I are trying to achieve:

To be open, transparent and accountable; to be fiscally prudent with public money; to serve all our communities equitably; to make decisions with future generations in mind.

I am aware that I am very lucky as mayor to have such a great team of councillors to work with, locally connected community boards members, and committed and professional staff.

I have written many times now about the focus on getting rid of our council operating deficit.

That means making some hard decisions.

One example is the introduction of boat ramp fees.

The council needs to find new ways to pay for some things.

The Harbour Fund has become an almost mythological source of money for harbour expenses, but here is the reality check.

The income from that fund – mostly rent from endowment land – is about $2.6 million a year.

All of that money is allocated to ports and harbour-related expenses, including maintenance.

In the past, there has been a small surplus but that is no longer the case. Rising costs are not being matched by rising income, and the lease arrangements make it impossible to shift that dial quickly.

Currently around 11 percent of ports and harbours costs are recovered in fees and charges, the rest is (almost) paid for from the Harbour Fund income.

To just keep providing what we currently provide, given rising costs, we either borrow money to pay for it all (making our operating deficit worse) or we put rates up, or we charge a small fee to users.

The proposed boat ramp fee is a once-off charge of $20 for locals, just to get people logged into the system, and for out of towners who don’t pay rates in the Whakatāne district it would be $20 per day to use the Whakatāne ramp and $10 for Thornton or Ōhope ramps.

As good neighbours we are looking at extending the local rate to people in Kawerau and Ōpōtiki as well.

Compared to all the other costs involved in taking a boat out fishing with your mates, this is not a lot.

Sports teams pay to use the fields without complaint, community groups pay to hire meeting spaces, kids pay to swim, and while none of that pays the full cost of providing those facilities, it’s a contribution.

A boat ramp fee is the same.

There is no risk that this will cost more to administer than it brings in.

It would use licence plate recognition, run by an experienced outside provider who returns $17 to council for every $20 they collect.

If we want to get rates rises to a manageable level, these are the kinds of things we are going to need to consider.