Are the Mount Greens a fugly rort?
Last Saturday's official opening of the Mount Greens is a stark reminder about this rip-off with TCC ratepayers throwing at least $11.5 million at Mount Greens and losing valuable TCC industrial land worth $15 million.
The media have been duped about this project, which is a complete financial no-brainer and it is common knowledge the Councillors who voted for it would now probably vote against it. What message does that send out? What on earth was really going on? Unfortunately, many of those directly involved are still running Tauranga ratepayers' financial affairs, both as Councillors and TCC administrators.
The loss of multi-million dollar industrial land is unbelievable, particularly when the bowling greens could have been accommodated on Blake Park itself at around $3 million – not the additional $11.5 million it has cost. In fact, the Bowling Club could happily have stayed where it was - 3 bowling greens, 1 croquet green and new clubrooms to accommodate a maximum of 2,000 people is an elitist waste of precious ratepayer funds.
Can Council Communications explain how this represents financial competence when it looks like fiscal madness to most of us? This project shouldn't be sitting on prime industrial land valued at around $15m.
Why did the parties involved close their minds to the other options? Probably because it wasn't their money being spent, that's why! It was TCC ratepayer funds and therefore no ‘real' money was involved by their reckoning!!
(abridged)
R Paterson, Matapihi.