Have your say: Locals lose out

NZ First Leader Winston Peters.

We thank Northland Member of Parliament Winston Peters for raising the Northland College rebuild contract and the failure of local firms to be considered in the tendering process ("Peters quizzes Govt on rebuild contract", Northern Advocate 6 November).

If the procurement process is being carried out in accordance with Ministry of Education guidelines, and the Government rules of sourcing fail local businesses, perhaps these processes and rules need reviewing.

Our group has been communicating with Ministry of Education people for at least seven years on this issue.

The critical state of the classrooms at Northland College has been highlighted in ERO reports since 2008.

Yet, in spite of the best efforts of successive boards, principals and, more recently, the commissioner, students and staff still work in dilapidated classrooms.

We made contact with the then Minister of Education, Anne Tolley, in 2011, to little effect.
We have had a commissioner governing the school since July 2012, but it wasn't until the state of the classrooms hit the headlines earlier this year that we finally had the announcement of a $15 million rebuild.

This has come after years of lobbying by various local groups, and now we have a competent local business locked out of the tendering process.

Rachel Velden
on behalf of Concerned
Kaikohe Residents

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