Day of Democracy: Consultation conundrum for Thames Coromandel

Wednesday, 9 April 2025

Getting into the Thames Coromandel District Council chamber proved to be more of a challenge than usual for the Waikato Times on Tuesday.

In an ongoing series, the Waikato Times visits a council meeting and casts an irreverent eye over small town democracy in action - today it’s Thames Coromandel District.

Ratepayers and residents of the Thames Coromandel could soon become victims of consultation overload after their council decided to push two more proposals out for public perusal.

The meeting got off to a slow but intense start when a recent Thames Community Board decision about a new swimming pool complex was discussed, with councillors Rekha Giri-Percival and John Grant questioning why future funding options were not addressed by the board before being put to council.

The community board decided on a $25.2m option, but had no idea how it would be funded.

Thames Coromandel mayor Len Salt said funding options for a possible $26.2m pool complex for Thames would be discussed at a future meeting.

Obviously, there’s no love lost between mayor Len Salt and his deputy Terry Walker. Salt shut him down as he was discussing the decision, citing standing orders regarding the receiving of minutes.

“Don’t interrupt me mayor - you do this all the time. I’m making my point,” Walker said.

Salt moved the meeting on, saying there would be plenty of time for funding options to be discussed at a later date.

Councillor Gary Gottlieb, foreground, and councillor Deli Connell were concerned about the amount of consultation being put on ratepayers at a Thames Coromandel District Council meeting on Tuesday.

Once those minutes were confirmed, councillors turned to two of the biggest decisions they will make this term, and probably for decades - how they will base rates charges in future, and what they will do with their water.

At this point some councillors, including Gary Gotleib, Deli Connell and Robyn Sinclair, wondered whether ratepayers could keep up with the council’s multiple requests for public input.

Councillor Robyn Sinclair proved adept at guiding her colleges through the hundreds of pages of agenda items at Tuesday’s meeting.

Last week, councillors decided to consult on part of its annual plan which proposes to change rubbish and glass collections over the summer peak period for its east coast communities. Consultation on the upgraded, and more expensive service ends on April 29.

At Tuesday’s meeting, councillors approved consultation on options for the future of water services in the district as part of the Government’s Local Water Done Well (LWDW) reforms with feedback opening on April 15.

They also went ahead with the next step of a rating review, another major piece of work which will change the way rates are charged from a land value-based system to a capital value-based system, with consultation opening later this month.

Locals will be initially given two options for future water services - a semi-status quo option with the council running water services in-house, or joining one of three multi-council water organisations - Waikato Water Done Well (a seven-council conglomerate), a Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga City organisation, or with Hamilton City and Waikato District.

However, getting into the council chamber on Tuesday proved challenging.

Unusually, the council restricts access to its public meetings by having anyone attending “buzzed in” and escorted to the chamber by a staff member.

Maybe that’s why there was no-one in the public gallery for what some councillors described as one of the more important meetings held for decades.

Apparently this level of security is not a new thing, and was put in place after two people were murdered in the Ashburton branch of the Ministry of Social Development in 2014.