Here are some of the issues I’m working on:
- Gisborne-Napier Railway
- Participatory Budgeting
- Participatory Democracy
- Synthetic Cannabinoids
- Good Neighbours
Below is space for you to make comments about local issues, ideas or concerns that are important to you. Feel free to write questions or make statements that I or others can respond to.
Inspirational blog site Manu. Well done.
Kia ora Manu,
I often see your efforts in regards to rail, fracking and many other important issues. It takes monumental effort at times to make even the smallest positive difference. The effort you put in is well-noticed and much admired. Kia kaha, keep up the good work.
Jacoby
Is this the best you can come up with? So you want to change the name of Gisborne/Poverty Bay? Or are you just unemployable and looking for attention? You suggest the name is a blight on the region. There are several factors that inhibit the growth and development of Poverty Bay/Gisborne. The regions isolation has to date inhibited its economic development, including tourism. With intelligence the regions isolation could be celebrated to the tourism sector as a positive. Waikanae Beach camping ground should be packed from November through April – but sadly it isn’t but could easily be.
The main ‘blight” on the region now and has always been Maori. I suspect you think you are a Maori Manu (?). If so – you look pretty anemic to me. Just like many others who claim the same. Why? There are very few stats to be proud of but then for weak folk it pays to hunt with the hounds and run with the hares.
True Blue Kiwi from where? I am amazed at your lack of Kiwi it would appear you are more true blue- sad. How you can even state the blight on the region is Maori is beyond me? I guess you have a story and I guess you have been wounded but seriously if we are to ever consider the growth and development of any place on earth we need to get over race divided dialogue and look a little deeper at what the real issues are. As for the name issue I see you chose a pseudonym are you not proud of your own name? how about this you change your name to Poverty Bay and see how much joy that brings to your life because as I mentioned earlier you truely are blue! I am Maori and proud of it!
Tena Koe Manu
You are very inspiring.
Tauke
Makere Wanoa
Kia ora
Sometimes we rely on services to heal the world. What about the parents of these teens that do drugs and alcohol, or are the parents still teens themselves.
I think whanau need to step up and support their rangatahi more. Marae are free to go to, maybe take their rangatahi to their marae and build on identity, it’s free. In that can sometimes empower youth and adults. You don’t need money programmes all the time, just quality time with their own rangatahi.
Shalom Manu.
Isaw that you are interested in accommodation that is fit to live in.At the Manawatu Tenants Union we have been pushing for a cert. of fitness for all rental accommodation around the country,over the last 12 years or so.We tried to get the pncc to introduce a cert. but failed ,a lot of city councillors are landlords who only saw increased costs to themselfs,we were hoping that they would run with it as they only have 96 houses and 114 pensioner/special needs,local authorities in NZ operate less than 2% of all rental accommodation .So they are in a good position to pilot such a scheme, the benefits to the wider community are huge in health and social wellbeing. Anyway send we your address and I will post a copy of the cert. if you wish and I hope you push this idea as it is evolutionary not revolutionary.
Thanks for getting in touch Kevin. Paul Barber sent me the link to your presentation from 2008 I think it was about the Certificate, I really liked the nine standards – and put the list up last week on this site: http://manu.org.nz/about/home/blog/ – I’m suggesting the cost of such a scheme should be no more than one week’s rent – do you think that sounds about right?
We have one or two influential councillors who are large rental landlords but I think we could get a by-law through if it was crafted carefully enough and we educated interested Councillors properly.
My email address is: manu[at]ahi.co.nz if you want to send me anything.
Thanks again, I look forward to keeping in touch.
Manu
Postal address is 21 Cambridge Tce, Kaiti, Gisborne – ta!
hi my names leana im 18 years old and im from Gisborne , ive been living in australia for the last 3 years, and have recently come back home. Now im totally upset at how many teens are still hanging on the streets, unemplyed and populating like crazy, with nothing else to turn to, but drugs and alchahol. these are my views on my town and peers, what the hell r people like apirana mahuika doin to improove our town and its people ? sitting at the top in suits discussing nothing, getting nowere, those old people have no idea about our generation today.. look at th bloody maraes and churches.. all closed up and cold, how un-welcoming is that, they need to be open!!! with programs running for the youth and rangatahi, run by our local maori/pakeha poeple who are willing to help out or volunteer. A soup meal could be provided for the homeless and youth. use these big empty halls for something like a ” telent quest ” call for local young talent, who are eager to be herd!! our town, 2nd my town, is stuck in a rutt, people are getn destryed by alchahol and drugs theres NO oppertuniy here!!! , gisborne is too much of a pretty, scenic, tourist place, to go to waste !!! we need an uplifting in this town, someting needs to me done!! please help the people of today, to try and make tomorro, a brighter, better place !!!
Thanks for sharing your views Leana. I agree there are some serious issues facing our community and young people in particular. While Gisborne has heaps of great stuff going for it, challenges like high unemployment, low educational achievement, drug abuse and violence continue to hold us back from reaching our full potential.
I’m involved with a number of organisations and networks that work to address these issues and it is always encouraging to find young people like yourself who are just as passionate about making our community better for everyone.
Tairawhiti Youth Voice, Ka Pai Kaiti, Te Ora Hou, Safer Tairawhiti and Gisborne East Coast Council of Social Services may all be good networks for you to check out. Ka Pai Kaiti have some funding for projects with young people if you are interested in helping coordinate something to make a difference.
I look forward to meeting you and thank you for your support and encouragement – please encourage all your friends who are 18 to check they are on the electoral roll and to vote for change next month!
I really like what you are saying Manu – and for giving us this opportunity to comment.
I hope your vision is the “new look” for local democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand – open, transparent and working really hard to be inclusive!
I’m looking forward to seeing you, and other motivated moral folk, elected to these vitally important leadership roles in our community. A robust conversation about what it is we collectively value comes at the very right time, in my opinion. Kia kaha!
Thanks for the feedback Paul. That’s definately my vision for much more open, participatory forms of democracy. I’d like to see new technology, particularly mobile phones used a lot more to engage citizens in the deliberation and decision-making processes.
Really impressed with your work, Manu. And great website.
Hope you get on- why don’t you stand for Mayor?
Hey, let me know if I can be of assistance.
Arohanui, Liz Remmerswaal, HB Regional Councillor.
Thanks Liz – I look forward to hearing how you get on this time too. Thanks for the book “Running For Office” – it’s been really useful!
Thanks heaps for your feedback Natalia.
GDC planners have been considering these issues for a while. A few years back they looked at a strategy for coastal development (e.g. do we want high rises on the foreshore like Mt Maunganui and the Gold Coast? what about ridgelines? the land between Endcliffe Rd and Sponge Bay, etc.). Now they are undertaking consultation on what should be included in an Urban Development Strategy (http://www.gdc.govt.nz/Consultation/Urban+Development+Strategy.htm) for the Gisborne City area – all the issues you allude to are included in the ‘Issues & Trends’ discussion document on the UDS page of the GDC website.
I was surprised to hear the Mayor telling the Chamber of Commerce meeting last week where everything is going to go (e.g. the future of the industrial areas, railway yards, Taraheru developments, etc.) as I thought that was the point of the community contributing to the planning process – and that it wasn’t already decided – so I hope he was simply making suggestions about what MIGHT be!
Some of the posts on my website mention my frustration with the consultation process. I’m not really into consultation – I’d rather take it back to co-construction and meaningful participation in the planning process from the very early stages. I am cautious of the ‘growth is good’ mantra that capitalism in all its forms relies upon and would like to see ‘small is beautiful’ and ‘we have enough’ replace some of the development philosophies that are so prevalent in our society.
I think young people need to be involved in the town planning process – both so that they have spaces that are useful to them and also so that they ownership of decision made now so they can’t so easily blame the previous generation for poor planning decisions like many of our contemporaries seem to do at present.
I am interested in a de-urbanisation strategy to encourage more whanau to move home to the marae and rural areas – this would relieve some pressure on the centralised systems in town and encourage more economies of scale for alternative energy and ‘waste’ systems in rural areas. At present we townies are quite removed from the source of food and energy production and have little concern for dealing with our waste – until it hits our pocket.
I would like to see at least one housing cooperative started in Gisborne that has a plan that involves tenants collectively owning all the state housing in town and generating capital for more social housing. I’d like to see more creativity through shared equity options to make home ownership more accessible and for GDC to take advantage of Housing Corps ‘Housing Innovation Fund’ which provides ten year loans at no or low interest.
I grew up on a ‘lifestyle block’ 20 acres just inside the city boundary in Tauranga. It and all of the surrounding farms have now been converted to residential sections. I would like to see more research into the issues of intergenerational co-habitation (a.k.a. living with our parents) and what works as incentives for families to choose to live closer together.
I have lots more to say on these issues but have to get on with something else right now! Thanks again for the comments.
Manu
Kia ora Manu,
As a Kaiti girl watching your campaign from Wellington I am very impressed with your views and with what you have to offer Tairawhiti. I think that the Council will benefit from having someone of your caliber and background to bring new challenges to the way it has traditionally operated and to very obvious extents, marginalized Maori within the region. I wish you well for your campaign!!
On another level, I am particularly interested in your views of urban development, specifically concerning issues of the ‘built environment’ and town planning. Over the many years coming back home, I have noticed a very ad hoc approach to town expansion with what should be industrial plants (for example the car yard on Awapuni Road) planted in residential areas. Similarly, with the recent development of residential spaces encroaching on primary productive areas such as Makaraka – the impacts this may have on the economy, in my view, are not also not well thought out. Good city planning would have conducted a thorough assessment of the downstream impacts of this – however, I don’t think that the Council are doing a good job of this. What are your views on this?
Cheers
Natalia
Thanks for the feedback Ralph.
Tarsh and I travelled to Tonga recently for the same price as an adult and child flying to Christchurch from Gisborne.
As domestic competition increases on the main air routes we’ll probably see further inequities in the cost of flights to/from Gisborne as we end up carrying a greater share of the profit margins for Air NZ shareholders.
I think SunAir has flights from Gisborne to places like Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty, but we should definitely explore options for increasing competition to Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch.
I wonder what residents would think of EIL owning an airline that competes with international companies instead of a helicopter firm that competes with local businesses?
Of course in general we should also be discouraging air travel as much as possible given its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, but I understand that it is currently an essential service for a number of reasons. Loading carbon charges on to the cost of all flights would help this – I imagine the big planes (that use over 15 tonnes of fuel just on takeoff) might be hit harder than the more fuel efficient smaller planes coming in and out of our region.
In many ways our geographic isolation is a barrier to increased investment and access to markets. On the otherhand, I think we will find that it becomes a more important factor influencing peoples choice to visit and move here – away from the ‘rat-race’, security concerns and rapidly homogenising global culture. Like many commentators I think we need much more interest and investment in the high value ‘weightless’ economy and knowledge-based/creative/information industries. This doesn’t solve the problem of high cost air travel but should make it a bit more affordable as the cost of oil-based transport will continue to escalate over the next decade.
Thanks again for the comments, I’ll certainly ask some questions about this issue and look forward to catching up with you some time in the near future (at the Okitu Store?).
Manu
Good luck in your endevour, Manu. Your credentials, youth, enthusiasm,
and planning put you at the top.
With economic development, the area will have a healthy expansion.
However, the access to the GDC from the ‘world’ is atrophied due to poor
highways and very costly air fares. A recent flight from Auckland to
Gizzy ($320) cost over 30% of a round trip fare to the U.S. ($900+).
Sometime during your upcoming tenure with the Council, a successful
conversation with Air New Zealand to lower their fare to Gisborne or an effort to entice competition, would allow more energy flow and capital.
Best wishes.
Ralph Tolman
Iranui Rd
Kia ora Wendy. With Christine Taare, I led the establishment of the ECE Centre for Te Whare Whai Hua between 2002-2004. I was also involved with TWWH and the increasing participation project funded by MOE which identified the chronic shortage of places in ECE and matched prospective participants with available places that met their needs.
Over the past two years I have been working with my wife Natasha Koia to establish a licensed ECE Centre in our neighbourhood that will be full immersion Te Reo and led by ECE/NZQA qualified kaiako. Part of our planning process has been to look at the statistics for the Gisborne region compared to national numbers and again it demonstrates we have a much lower than average participation rate in ECE. To date we have secured the land and a building (that needs extensions) and I understand the Resource Consent is due to be issued soon as we had unanimous support from the neighbours for the proposal.
From a philosophical perspective Tarsh and I support the need for whanau to be the primary caregivers and educators of their tamariki and ECE should compliment the learning taking place in the home, not replace it.
In terms of ‘The Precinct’ I am fully supportive of it remaining as a place for the benefit of children, families and not-for-profit organisations. To this end I would like to see a 10 year plan for the area that may include refurbishment and/or replacement of some of the buildings with facilities that better meet the needs of the respective organisations using them – and others who may compliment the existing organisations that are based in that block.
Manu
Could you please tell me your views on the provision of quality early childhood education for the tairawhiti rohe. Do you believe this should be supported in our district? If so, do you have an opinion on what is now known as “The Precinct” supporting social services to Gisborne and its environs on Palmerston Road? Are you for or against these valuable resources being retained for our communities whanau/families?