I’m not a fan of conspiracy theories. I prefer incompetency theories and corruption theories. My experiences of government organisations tell me that the CIA is more likely to have ignored the credible threat warnings of Jihadi hijackers than to have planted demolition charges in the twin towers without something
It is said that every drop of tap water in London has been through at least seven people. When I flush my Hamilton toilet, I think about the poor Aucklanders who have to take Waikato river water downstream at Mercer. But it is the Waikato Regional Council that is really
Councils are licking their lips over a lolly scramble of free government money for “shovel-ready” projects. Of course, there is no such thing as free money, so alarm bells should start ringing for any rational observer. We need to take a closer look at this before we, the taxpayers, are
Yesterday’s column was about the history of council planning. It affects us every day, having had a big impact on our house designs, sections, roads, and where we work. Some people reading this will embark on their morning commute across Hamilton’s bridges tomorrow and wonder why their CBD
The late great Sir Ian Athfield, legendary architect, famously said in 1987 “Planners and local authorities are stupid. Absolutely stupid! They have these rules and they’re not worth a tin of s**t. They’re rules for rules’ sake. They don’t have any validity. They’re changed all
It has been a typical week for New Zealand’s councils with yet another massive cost blow-out. This time it was Whangarei’s turn with the new Hundertwasser Art Centre going from $16 million to $33 million. Additional costs included asbestos removal, deeper pilings, and extra seismic strengthening. Any commercial
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic, and military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for
