Patch law clearly no priority of public

As the old saying goes, where there's smoke, there's normally fire.

But in the case of Wanganui District Council's gang patch bylaw, perhaps there's now an argument to be made for lots of smoke somehow coming from just a slightly flickering flame.

Public submissions on the council's second attempt at a gang insignia bylaw have now closed, with just six submissions being received - four in support of the bylaw and two opposed.

Of the four supporting submissions, three were from schools.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that from a city with a population of about 40,000, that's not a huge response.

It may be indicative of apathy over local body politics in general, but given the recent lack of problems with gang violence in our city, perhaps Wanganui residents have moved on from the gang patch issue.

There will always be those with a vested interest in the topic, those who will make plenty of noise around the issue - a certain former mayor springs immediately to mind.

But for many others, there are more pressing issues at stake - paying the bills, putting food on the table, preparing for another cold winter.

While it's hard to argue against the idea of this particular bylaw, it seems that in the case of many people, they just don't care.

Given that he's just won $26.5 million, you wouldn't think there'd be too many people feeling much sympathy for this country's newest multi-millionaire, Trevor from Te Kauwhata.

Much more likely is people wondering what on earth the 34-year-old Countdown checkout operator was thinking when he decided to go public with his hefty windfall.

When most people win it big on Lotto, they decide to keep their success largely to themselves - there's a good reason for that, as Trevor is now discovering in spades.

Since he outed himself as the big winner of Saturday's Powerball draw, Trevor (who oddly chose not to reveal his surname, despite having his face splashed all over television and newspapers) has been contacted with requests for money and has now fled his small hometown.

Trevor vowed to turn up to work, despite winning it big, but then failed to show.

Apparently he's decided to take some time out to let things settle down. Finally, a smart decision.

Trevor's life has changed forever - but perhaps not entirely in the way he anticipated.

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