Letters: Council may have a chance at awards

Rotorua Lakes Council building. Photo/File

I rather thought that competitions, be they sporting, cultural or something else, were open to anyone who was proud of their effort – regardless of what others thought of it.

It was then up to the judges to decide if the work truly had merit, and to award prizes accordingly.

To protest to the judges before the winners have been announced in an effort to get entries disallowed – as the Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers Association is currently doing over the council's submissions for the Local Government Excellence Awards – implies that they believe, contrary to what they claim, that the entries stand a good chance of winning.

An event which would, of course, prove very embarrassing to them and their viewpoint.

Geoffrey Cox
Rotorua

Reading the article "War of words over awards", (Local News, June 28) I was reminded of the cartoon Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

In this series Wile E. Coyote spends long periods of time creating absurdly complex contraptions and elaborate plans to pursue his prey the Road Runner, but is never successful.

The Road Runner typically avoids the trap by simply speeding on by.

This latest attempt by Reynold Macpherson and RDRR to stop Rotorua in its tracks involved penning a 1000+ word essay and sending it to Local Government New Zealand to explain why, in their minority view, Rotorua is doing badly and isn't deserving of being nominated in the latest LGNZ excellence awards.

This is yet another attempt in a long running series of attacks on Rotorua ever since Macpherson was rejected by Rotorua residents at the polling booth in 2013.

The elaborate plans used to try and slow Rotorua have involved campaigns by signs erected around town, legal challenges, amongst other schemes which have all ultimately failed.

They failed because despite their attacks, Rotorua has gone from strength to strength, through the hard work of local residents, community groups and businesses, supported by the council.

Sure, the council doesn't get everything right, but since 2013 Rotorua has kept speeding along, boosting its economy, population and quality of living.

Perhaps it's time Macpherson instead tried a bit of balance, for endlessly attacking Rotorua won't help his chances for round three at the polling booth either.
(Abridged)

Ryan Gray
Rotorua