However, there is now talk and growing concern around town that the official lunch was not quite as it should have been.
Why were most of our Queen's honours awards recipients not invited?
Why too, were three councillors omitted from the guest list? It just so happens that those three were Peter Bentley, Raj Kumar and Mark Gould? Why just those three? Why were names not drawn from a hat if numbers were an issue?
While the function was politically neutral, courtesy, common sense and political prudence should have indicated that, regardless of who made the decisions, the recommendation for councillor participation should have been all or none. (Abridged)
Paddi Hodgkiss
Rotorua
Revive the bus service
It was no surprise to see Monday's front-page story "Buses cost ratepayers" (Local News, November 19), which detailed how patronage has dropped by nearly 180,000 from 814,164 rides in 2015/16 to 636,820 in 2017/18.
In my opinion, one major contributor to this drop in patronage is do with the decision by the polytech to scrap free bus trips for staff and students.
Obviously these bus trips were free to passengers, but paid for by the polytech.
Back in 2015/16 anyone with a Waiariki staff or student ID card could get a free bus trip anywhere in city, this system obviously worked well for the 5000+ staff and local students, but in particular for international students, of which there are upwards of 1000 in Rotorua, who could avoid having to purchase a car, and get free travel in Rotorua.
Post-merger, when Waiariki became Toi Ohomai, the free bus trips for staff and students were scrapped. Putting more cars on the road, and further cost burdens on our students.
Another contributing factor could be the relative lack of investment, for any public transport system to succeed it needs to be frequent, convenient and affordable. Even in peak time the current system only brings one bus every 30 minutes.
Please Bay of Plenty Regional Council, do not use these numbers as an opportunity to cut services further, instead seek to re-partner with business and education providers, and most importantly value your business, and then so will your customers.
Ryan Gray
Rotorua
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