Editorial April 7th 2023

Welcome to this week’s editorial, Ah, Easter. A time of mixed metaphors. There is the pagan fecundity believers, the chocolate rabbit believers, the non-believers and the Christians. I am happy to let the pagans and the chocolate eaters have their way and wish the non-believers well as they enjoy a four day long weekend without questioning the history of why it is so. This week I am most interested in The Christians and wonder what they have given up for Lent. For the non Christians out there the true believers recognise Lent. What they do is, for the forty days before Easter Sunday, they give up something as a sign of sacrifice and to test their self-discipline which is meant to represent the sacrifice of their man, Jesus, when he went into the desert to pray and fast for the forty days before later allegedly dying on the cross. It brings me to wonder what we collectively would give up for Lent. The reality is that we might well be asked to give up quite a lot in the near future. Why? Because the rosy financial position that was intimated by the previous term of Council was in fact less than rosy, as has been recently discovered. Basically, if we had have continued down that path we would have found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. Fortunately the reality of the position has been discovered and that reality will require a considerable re-think on what we have, and what we might have to give up. Already there is talk of handing back grant money for projects because Council does not have the resources to initiate the grants, nor the forward funding to maintain and replace any newly acquired infrastructure. Free money is one thing but then there are the running costs. By example is the Council’s agreement to a thorough review of the Bay Pavilions operations and for that review to be reported back to Council. The community had been seduced into thinking it could afford a $69m pool, gym, waterslide, theatre complex as $50 million came from “mana from the skies” and we only had to put in a mere $19m of ratepayer money. But that little exercise is now costing us $4m per year. Every year. So it is reasonable that the Mayor wants to see the details of how the facility is being run by its outside contractor, and if there are ways to maximise the usage of the facility to minimise the cost of having it. Alas, The Bay Pavilions can not be given back. Sadly we can’t kick the butt of those who led us to this point. We, as a community, just have to suck it in and prepare ourselves to give up some other stuff. But what to give up? There is no doubt change coming and what we might have to give up will be a whole lot more than the token effort many make during Lent where, come Easter Sunday, one can enjoy a pagan chocolate rabbit. So what should we give up for Lent? Should we grade our roads less, reseal less, mow less, maybe have less staff delivering less services. How about less garbage and green waste services? Boat ramps, parks, bbqs, footpaths. Or we can sell more council land or maybe a vital community centre to help fill the gaping chasm. So many options… if only the lazy, gullible numpties of yesteryear had listened ….. Oh well…. Until next lei