Letters: RDRR members all invited to contribute

Ryan Gray's letter (April 22) dismissed RDRR's (Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers) press release as "nonsense" but without citing or refuting any of our criticisms of the council's Annual Plan, which may justify statutory management.

He may, therefore, not know what he is talking about.

Instead he asserted that the call for statutory management was "nonsense" because "the council has recently retained its excellent credit rating."

Wrong. It has a marginal credit rating that it is only satisfactory so long as conditions don't change. And conditions are changing. Worse, the credit rating allows council to lift debt as a ratio of revenue to 250 per cent. On last year's revenue of $104 million, it could lift the current debt from $174m to $260m, with higher interest rates forecasted.

Ratepayers, be terrified.

Mr Gray sees irony in that our two councillors were not consulted before the press release was issued, implying that we failed our democratic principles. The facts are that all of our near 500 members were invited to contribute their thoughts on the council's Annual Plan by email and at the March meetings of members and the RDRR Committee.

The team of senior RDRR officials empowered to prepare press releases then used the expressed views of members, although neither of the two RDRR-endorsed councillors contributed their thoughts or attended either meeting.

Since his interpretation of RDRR's electoral performance is similarly divorced from the facts, and the rest of his letter is, in my view, pretentious rhetoric, no further comment appears warranted.

REYNOLD MACPHERSON Rotorua

I'm wondering why Anzac Day poppies weren't sold in the mall this year as for many years that's where I've bought mine.

I hope it won't be a permanent thing as Poppy Day is iconic New Zealand and needs the support of all New Zealanders and businesses.

PADDI HODGKISS
Rotorua