Hamilton Grey Power June 2017

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Cycling on footpaths and pedestrian safety BY PETE MATCHAM Members will know that last year the Federation and many associations made submissions opposing a petition to legalise riding bicycles on the footpath for those under 14 and over 65. This issue has not gone away and we need associations and individual members to keep up the pressure by writing to the Minister (Simon Bridges), Associate Minister (David Bennett) and their local MPs. The latest news we have is that the Select Committee is considering amending the road rules to allow cycling on the footpath for children under 12 years of age and accompanying adults. Recent media headlines suggest this is supported by a Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) report on the potential impacts of such a change. Although the conclusion of the report says that ‘On balance,a rule permitting footpath cycling for those aged 12 and under (and accompanying adults) has merit’, as usual, the media fails to mention the many qualifications to this conclusion, perhaps the most important of which is that: ‘However, it seems impossible to quantitatively estimate and balance all the advantages and disadvantages given the large assumptions at hand, which makes an objective assessment of rule options difficult.’ I urge you all to write to your local MP, and the Ministers reiterating your opposition to the proposed law change. The following are three points which I suggest you could make. When writing, please put these points into your own words as carbon copy letters have little impact. 1. We support children being more active and cycling, but this should not be at the expense of other equally vulnerable footpath users. 2. Children need to be safe and feel safe on the roads. This can best be done by lowering speed limits in suburban streets and providing dedicated cycle lanes on major streets. If children are allowed to ride on the footpath, councils may use it as an excuse for not providing appropriate on-road facilities for all cyclists. 3. Older people, the very young, and those with disabilities will be particularly at risk if the rule is changed. Older people rely on footpaths to get about more than any other age group and the risk is that the presence of cyclists on the footpath will deter some from walking, or injure those who persist. Pete Matcham Chair, Grey Power Federation Local Bodies and Housing National Advisory Group pmatcham@actrix.co.nz Tel (04) 565 1083 Mob 021 525 849 New parking plan to revitalise Hamilton’s CBD A trial of a new parking system to help revitalise Hamilton’s CBD will commence on October 1 this year. The plan includes free onstreet CBD parking for the first two hours and then $6 per hour for the third and subsequent hours and was approved by Hamilton City Council recently. The current parking charges are $2 per hour with a maximum twohour time limit. New parking technology including sensors and development of an app to allow payments on mobile devices are also planned, although parking meters will remain for now. The effectiveness of the trial will be reviewed before the end of June 2018. The new system followed public submissions and hearings as part of the council’s Annual Plan process. During the consultation period a free parking proposal was suggested. This was proposed to be funded in part through a targeted rate on households and a targeted rate on central city commercial properties. Hamilton City Council chief executive Richard Briggs says the revised plan adopted is designed to consider issues raised by submitters and address the main purpose of the Parking Task Force, 14 Hamilton greypower Magazine – June 2017 which was to look at ways to revitalise the CBD. “The decision means the originally-proposed targeted rate on CBD businesses will remain, which will offset some of the cost of the initiative, while parking revenue will also contribute. The remainder of the cost of this trial will be met through the council’s existing operating budgets, and there will be no additional targeted rate for residential ratepayers,” Mr Briggs says. “Research shows us the majority of our city carparks are utilised by people for less than two hours, so from October 1 most of these people will be able to come into the central city and have no parking charges. If people want to stay longer than two hours they can choose either off-street parking options or pay an extra charge,” Mr Briggs says. Councillors voted 9-3 to approve the proposal. For: Mayor Andrew King, Crs Gallagher, Pascoe, Taylor, Casson, Southgate, Mac Pherson, Bunting, Henry. Against: Crs O’Leary, Tooman, Mallett. Absent: Cr Yeung. Following the decision, the council confirmed the 2017/18 Annual Plan budget as final, with the final annual plan document to be prepared for approval at the Council meeting on June 29, 2017.
EBBETT HOLDEN BULK BUY SPECIALS!! SAVE THOUSANDS!! SEE PAGE 24 Jarrod Gilbert NZ Herald writes: BY DAVID FARRAR KIWIBLOG Richard Spencer is a prissy looking neo-Nazi who got punched in the head. Thwack. Sucker-punched while he was being interviewed on the telly. Given its endless replaying on the internet, it seems few things bring such 12 things successful people do differently People who are wildly successful – think Clint Eastwood and Warren Buffett – take steps to help them realise their full potential. Some of these things are strategies you can easily emulate to rise to success in your own life… 1. Create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals -- S.M.A.R.T. goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. 2. Take decisive and immediate action – Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action. joy to so many as an overt racist receiving a handful of swiftly delivered knuckles. The act has been widely condoned and even encouraged. Including by a fellow Herald columnist who advocates we do the same in New Zealand. If we are happy to punch people espousing Nazi ideology, who else are we allowed to punch? And perhaps more importantly, when can people punch us? My grandmother was no fan of Nazis but she was pretty damned racist. Her views were not as extreme as Spencer's, though, so perhaps we punch her but not so hard? How about people who make up false claims about immigrants? Can they be punched also? Even if they are an MP? How about abortion? Many people see abortion as the murder of a child and an affront to God, are pro-lifers cool to start cracking those who argue in favour of a woman's right to choose? Yep, once you start to cheer violence against those you disagree with, where does it stop. In fact, we enshrine the right to free speech and celebrate it. Voltaire's principle states: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". Voltaire would get howled down on Twitter were he alive today. I like this quote from Noam Chomsky: "If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise." The fact Spencer has such repulsive views is exactly why we should condemn the man who punched him, not cheer him. And let me finish with another Chomsky quote: “With regard to freedom of speech there are basically two positions: you defend it vigorously for views you hate, or you reject it and prefer Stalinist/fascist standards. It is unfortunate that it remains necessary to stress these simple truths.” Pleased to see Gilbert as a defender of free speech. 3. Focus on being productive, not being busy – In other words, work smarter, not harder. 4. Make logical, informed decisions – Think things through before making life-changing decisions. 5. Avoid trying to make things perfect – The only way to get things done is to be imperfect 99% of the time. 6. Work outside of your comfort zone – Embrace all moments of opportunity for personal growth and success. Sudoku Puzzle 7. Keep things simple – Rather than evaluating every last detail of every possible option, choose something you think 3 will work and give it a shot. 8. Focus on making small, continuous improvements – Soon you'll find yourself on a spiral of changes – one building on the other. 9. Measure and track your progress – Step back and assess your progress regularly so you know what needs to be done to excel and accelerate. 10. Maintain a positive outlook as you learn from your mistakes – Look for the silver lining in every situation. 11. Spend time with the right people – You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with. 12. Maintain balance in your life – An imbalanced lifestyle will hold you back from reaching your full potential. SUDOKU PUZZLE Medium Sudoku Puzzles 3 www.printablesudoku99.com Medium Level - The rules of Sudoku are that you should fill a number in to every cell in the grid, using the numbers 1 to 9. The restriction is that you can only use each number once in each row, each column, and in each of the 3x3 boxes. Solution page 22 7 3 9 2 1 7 2 8 6 2 5 1 8 9 7 6 5 9 4 3 3 8 1 4 5 1 6 9 4 2 7 8 1 Hamilton greypower Magazine – June 2017 15
Page 1 and 2: Hamilton JUNE 2017 Budget 2017 - wh
Page 3 and 4: EBBETT HOLDEN BULK BUY SPECIALS!! S
Page 5 and 6: Retirement Villages EBBETT HOLDEN B
Page 13: Sit back, relax and enjoy being dri

Hamilton Grey Power June 2017

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