The mayor of Christchurch city, NZ, Phil Mauger, is in the news backing the government’s proposal to cap councils’ rates increases. The article on #RNZ says that Mauger “agreed with [finance minister Nicola] Willis that councils had engaged in wasteful spending”.
Ah, you must be thinking, surely Mauger must mean our $683 million new stadium. That’s a big reason why Christchurch rates have gone up by on average almost 25% during the 3 years of Mauger’s term, while inflation had only risen about 8%.
No, of course not. He’s pointing at our cycle ways. “We've wasted money on how we have designed and built cycleways”. The council has budgeted on average $21 million annually over the next 10 years for cycleway and footpath maintenance and construction.
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Remember that it’s election year this year.