Sort jobs and small town NZ is perfick

So how about some government and state-owned enterprise departments getting shuffled out of the big metropolis to give us and other areas a boost.

Okay, it may be a few degrees cooler, we've had a bit of rain and we've got the wastewater treatment thing to sort out, but aren't you glad you live in Wanganui?

As opposed to, say, Gridlock City (Auckland), Terminal City (Wellington is dying and we can't do anything about it, says Prime Minister John Key) or Earthquake City (Christchurch residents are even sending their pet dogs to Wanganui).

House prices in Auckland are threatening to soar out of control, as is the population.

So they are going to build thousands of little boxy homes and tack on extra rooms to existing homes - maybe the sort of dwellings that the Department of Conservation is planning to dismantle in the Wanganui district.

They are also hot-housing their problem gamblers with 230 extra pokie machines and 40 extra gaming tables at the SkyCity casino, while the rest of us are lid-sinking the destructive social fallout of the urge to bet all your money away.

And, of course, the traffic is such that no one can get anywhere. Maybe that's why the population is growing so rapidly - no one can escape.

And, according to a "recent survey", you are more likely to get spied on by our very own Government Communications Security Bureau if you live in one of the big cities.

Yes, despite the impending increase in parking charges on Drews Ave, small town New Zealand rules. Except, that is, on the all-important jobs front.

Political parties of all hues make concerned bleating noises about the lack of employment and struggling economies out in the sticks of regional, rural New Zealand.

Mr Key was in Wanganui last weekend, and he was concerned about it - and at least he didn't say the city was dying like Wellington.

So how about some government and state-owned enterprise departments getting shuffled out of the big metropolis to give us and other areas a boost.

In these days of high-tech communications, you can see anyone and chat to anyone no matter what the geographical gap is between you.

So, no loss of efficiency and cheaper rates to pay - plus you'd alleviate the squash in Auckland and wouldn't have to pay for so many of those boxes.

How about it?

Ministry can't count

The Ministry of Education needs to go back to school to learn how to count.

Approached by the Chronicle for the number of proposals for charter schools in Wanganui it had received, simple addition proved beyond it.

The ministry responded: "The Authorisation Board is undertaking a robust evaluation and procurement process of applications. The Ministry is unable to release information until that process is completed."

Feedback should be sent to: The Editor, Wanganui Chronicle, 59 Taupo Quay, PO Box 433, Wanganui 4500; or email us at editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz