Readers revolt: Call it the great train robbery

Readers have now sent almost 200 emails and faxes to the 'Herald' protesting against the Auckland Regional Council's rate increases. Here is another edited selection:

The real issue with ARC rates demands is not the method used to calculate them but the fact that the ARC is going down the same empire-building path as its predecessor, the ARA.

Like the ARA, the ARC seems to imagine it has some divine right to dip its hands into ratepayers' pockets as deeply as it chooses. There has been no community consultation on the purposes for which the ARC is taking this money, and many of the purposes are being resisted by the community (eg. millions of dollars for rail that has not yet managed to run a train on time etc.)

The answer is not to argue about the method used for calculating the rate, it is to abolish the ARC. It serves no necessary function, and is a waste of money. It should be abolished and the headquarters sold off. Abolish the ARC now. And eliminate the ARC rate. End of story. - Howard Sutton

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Having now received my extortionate rates demand from the Auckland Regional Council, I can only shake my head in wonder at the sheer audacity of the size of the grab.

At least I am comforted by the knowledge that I will now be able to take advantage of the convenience of rail transport from my home in Browns Bay to my work in Albany (via Britomart of course).

I also feel so much better each time I hear those syrupy radio adverts telling me how much better I am making Auckland. Trouble is, the way things are going, no one will be able to afford to live here any more. Is this the real object of the exercise? - Brian Gill

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I live in Pukekohe, and fail to see why residents of the area should be forced to pay the full transport levy to the ARC when public transport is so poor in the area.

It is just blatantly subsidising services in the city which are of little or no use to Franklin residents. For instance, until recently there was one train service A DAY into Auckland from Pukekohe, despite the main line running right through town. I now understand we are to benefit from an increase to four trains a day. How generous.

Furthermore, the bus service to Auckland takes two hours in each direction, as opposed to 40 minutes by car, and services within Franklin District are virtually non-existent. Little wonder that most people drive. - Ben Garside

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Our rates have increased more than 200 per cent. Given the percentage to be spent on transport - and in particular on rail - how is that justified when we live on the North Shore? - Glen Van Prehn

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It is very unfair for the ARC to charge us this extra rate. I find it very hard to pay this extra cost being a single mother with a 16-year-old son living with me.

I receive $10 child support weekly which is not enough to buy a bus ticket for my son for a week. I have to drop off my son at college before heading to Newmarket to work from Monday to Friday. There is no bus from my area to my son's college. If there is one, he needs to walk a long distance or the bus is always late. My friends and I do not use buses; this charge is so unfair.

What if all of us refuse to pay? - Susana Leat

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The ARC website's calculator shows my rates will be $348 against the previous Papakura ARC levy of $125.

That means almost a 200 per cent increase. I will be interested to see if my Papakura rates reduce by $125, but somehow I doubt it.

I then looked up the ARC link entitled "What do I get for my rates" and was presented with a lot of vague waffle about the areas that ARC monitor and advise on, but little to indicate what they actually do with all this money. - Terry Sawyer

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Like Toni Squire, my rates increase by nearly 100 per cent (if I were in a designated transport area it would be closer to 400 per cent) and, like Toni, I get absolutely no benefit from the increased charges. But the question we should be asking is, who is really responsible?

The ARC can be praised for trying to do something about Auckland's transport woes but that is about all that can be said in its their favour.

They should be charged with stupidity for believing rail, even if running to a regular timetable and on time, will do more than dent the problem.

They should be accused of adopting the most unfair rating system possible. As far as I am aware, they are the only council to use capital value for calculating charges.

Gwen Bull can now be accused of deceit when she says the ARC will listen to submissions. They have clearly ignored the thousands already made.

So stupidity, unfairness and deceit are clear. However the real responsibility lies with central government in Wellington. They have passed the poisoned chalice of Auckland's transport to the ARC but not given them access to the millions raised in petrol tax from the region, some of which will probably be brought out as bribes on election day. - Rod Lyons

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It's all very well to have this lovely new shiny Britomart in downtown Auckland, but have any of you been on a train or bus to the south of Auckland - where there are rambling old stations covered in graffiti, stinking of urine, and where cars are broken into in the car parks? I am embarrassed for any tourists who might be unlucky enough to venture in that direction. I certainly don't remember that awful smell or disgusting condition in other countries.

If there is a rates protest, I am all for it and will support it wholeheartedly. - Victoria Woods

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I would use the services if they were any good and not so expensive.

I live in Massey, which is about a 15 minute to 20 minute drive to downtown Auckland at 7am. If I catch a bus from outside my house at 7am, it would take more than an hour to get to downtown, mainly because the buses do not take direct routes.

The cost of these bus trips for a week is far above the cost of running my car and paying for parking in Auckland. This, coupled with more than two hours a day travelling, makes my choice very easy. - Derek Rooney

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Stop whingeing and pay up. Auckland needs investment in its transport needs and individual Aucklanders need to start paying rather than holding out the begging bowl to the rest of the country. - Gerard Field