I am VERY keen to hear from any and everyone who has found themselves a victim of the ongoing government funding cuts in the public or community sector. 

I will be raising this issue in my role as CAN member at Community & Whanau network meeting THIS next Wed - 12 noon at Trafalgar Pavilion. 
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This is the voice I will be bringing to Council. AND soon -whatever the outcome of tomorrow will be.    I CAN bring this voice and I will.

I'm thinking there are four main sectors in our socio-economic system
Government
Business and corporations
Community - that's sport and recreation; arts and heritage; and health and social services.
Households -  tenancies of which there many more now; home owners and investors.

I am sadly old enough now to have noticed a very distinct pattern in the days since I first voted - that was 1971 or thereabouts.  I acknowledge this is a  simplistic way to frame it, yet I still can't help but to continually observe it.  
When there is a national led government, there is continual spending on the Think Big, Muldoon style activities - sure infrastructure is important, but not at the expense of lots of other things.  

There is continual erosion of government services and there is the subsequent impact on the community.  All of this gets right down to household level and that's where the inequality has developed significantly.  In the 1990's we had exactly this.  Continual erosion of government services, restructure after restructure which has massive impacts on employment, and then the subsequent demise of the community sector (except for guess what - sport and recreation.  

​National and also local governments continually invest in the infrastructure to build, build, build.  They forget how much it takes to maintain the people to run them and the resources to maintain them.    So now after nearly 9 years of this government, we have continued and growing inequality - all based on the same pattern of activity.  They call it neo-liberalism, and the market forces.  Guess what and who has grown the most out of all of this.....  business/corporations.   I'm now believing that actually this government want to privatise nearly everything they possibly can, which erodes .....democracy.  So we  are pleased to announce that less than 50% are actually voting.  Let's just make Council a Board and call it a day!

Do you remember this  item in Nelson Mail just a few months ago - 4 August?

Big celebration for Mayor Reece and Housing Minister Smith thinking they are making a difference.  They sure are, and it's not a good difference for people who live in Nelson and just want to find something affordable, secure and somewhere they can call home.
Really BAD news for anyone dreaming for some new opportunities for an affordable home.

"The Ocean Lodge site will be developed by Wakatu Incorporation for an estimated 39 various-sized apartments from studio, one and two bedroom apartments and penthouse options.  
The development, which will house 39 apartments ranging from $470,000 to $1.4 million, falls under the Government's Special Housing Area programme."

So just to highlight how this kind of supply helps us.....the 1 bed apartments begin at $470,000.  

There is NO requirement in this SHA programme for affordability.  So guess what, investor interest is HIGH and will continue to push the current prices in our area UP, UP and UP.  

One local resident, "Longman has rented in the area for two years with his wife and six chickens but said the idea to purchase one of the Ocean Lodge lots would not fit with his work/lifestyle choices at the moment."   Surprise!
Will this offer some different choices for anyone currently living nearby as a new quality home to live in.  UNLIKELY. 

Who will benefit from this overall?  
1.  Developers, who get to fast track a high end penthouse style of accommodation at relatively high prices.
2.  Investors who can afford to purchase.
3.  Government will get some spin for their own voters, because of all the "employment" for the time they are there, and all the business interests who will get to "click the ticket" and  improve their already relatively high incomes.