Arnold said he had not been attending council meetings and community events but he would make it his business to do so.
“There has to be an association. You can’t just have a whole bunch of people turning up to council asking ‘what’s this and what’s that?’ because it doesn’t hold any weight.
“If you have an incorporated association that’s been voted in by the people to represent them, it carries a lot more weight.”
It was a “non-political, non-partisan association of local residents providing a forum for discussion on local issues”.
The association’s annual general meeting in 2021 was deemed invalid because there was no quorum - the minimum number of members that must be present to make the proceedings valid.
Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said he was fully supportive of the new group if it was being set up to have a constructive conversation with the council.
“I’ve seen some suggestions that rates [rises] are going to be 14 per cent and I don’t know where they’ve got that from,” Tripe said.
“That’s inaccurate and not overly helpful.
“We are happy to engage with them but only if it’s reasonable and constructive, not inflammatory.”
In a social media post promoting the group’s first meeting, Arnold asked if the community was happy with a 14 per cent rates rise.
A final rates rise will not be signed off until the completion of community consultation on the council’s Long-term Plan (LTP), which is due to begin on April 2.
According to the draft LTP consultation document, a rates increase of 10.6 per cent is being suggested for the next financial year.
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.