Fridays Ship Sailed But Without Fireworks

14 August 2026

Ecclesiastes 11:9 with an encouragement to seek God early in your life before you make too many mistakes that are hard to fix: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment”.

Okay lets talk about Daisy for a bit, who is the lady in the above picture and been appearing the past couple of weeks. She was born from the Head Start amalgamation chatter that has been going on the past three months, and really stems from the media team at Taupo District Council who likened it to a dating game. The fact of the matter is that last Sunday 9th August was the due date which Daisy didn’t get hitched up, the ship has now sailed and now she has to wait for the government to announce her arranged marriage with another partner(s). I am not completely against arranged marriages by the way, in fact I know they can work. Even if our culture doesn’t really go for it, given a choice what parent wouldn’t like to have some say in their children’s future partner? But anyway Daisy is probably going to be a regular fixture in my columns from now on, because in my mind she has come to represent the attitude of this Council quite well – a veritable princess who is trouble free, insular and self-important, and continually tipsy on the long-suffering Taupo ratepayer funded good life. And most importantly, I am having quite a bit of fun with AI doing it.

Duncandoestaupo.com: For people who choose to think

And its all over right, Head Start? Well I certainly thought so, at least for now, because 9th August was the specified due date and now we just wait for the government to respond in September…right? But it seems that Taupo District Council didn’t quite get the memo, because on Tuesday in Chambers we were still talking about it and already we have some strategy sessions set aside in our calendars starting next week! “What for?” you may well ask, and to be honest I really don’t know! There was some hearsay that the government might be granting a months grace for latecomers like us to still pull something together, but the latest as of this morning is that this will not come to pass. And the direction Mayor John Funnell is clearly wanting to still head is a Central North Island Unitary (i.e. with Ruapehu, Waitomo & Otorohanga) – which in itself is fair enough to at least further explore – but on Tuesday there was clearly expressed no commitment to even entertain the idea of negotiating with Waikato District Mayor Aksel Bech who is leading the Western Unitary Authority proposal which I think we will most likely be dragged into. On 11th August I publicly asked Mayor Funnell in my article entitled So then, who’s telling Porkies:

Why did Taupō withdraw from those wider discussions in the first place (involving the other Waikato Councils), and what opportunities to influence the eventual outcome did we give up by doing so?

So I guess we now have our answer in pretty transparent terms: Mayor Funnell is not prepared to even negotiate. My own take is that we have been painted into such a corner with his vehement political posturing of defiance (which I am interpreting as a deflection to us not coming up with the goods), that it is hard to backtrack now. Perhaps so, but maybe one shouldn’t say such words in the first place, and why should the rest of us have to pay for that? Or even, were they really his own words?

I’ll say just one more thing about Head Start and amalgamation before we move on: You didn’t have to be a Council to submit something to the government, even though that was the general stipulation and expectation. Ngai Tahu submitted a proposal of their own for the South Island which you can read about HERE, which perhaps is covered in more detail somewhere else than just that article. And I sent in my own Waikato Together along with a covering letter which includes my own perspective about Taupo District Councils quite intransigent position. So interesting times alright, and lets see if who dares really wins.

Okay finished with all that, is there anything else?

Why We Vote: On Tuesday we had quite an interesting one-hour workshop which you can watch HERE presented by Warwick Lampp our electionz.com contracted electoral officer, explaining the difference between First Past Post (FPP) which we have now in Taupo, and Single Transferrable Vote (STV). We have only until 12 September to decide as it will apply for the next three elections, or if a resident petition is received with 1414 signatures by 11 December to instigate a binding poll held by 28 March 2027 (estimated cost around $135K, or at least two fireworks displays). Quite interesting that we have this legislated referendum in place just like we had for Maori wards, although I am sceptical if people will be as motivated to pace the streets getting signatures for something as fairly mundane as this. A number of us Councillors including myself are quite warming to idea of change though, as it seems to present a more transparent democratic way forward with 16 other Councils already using it (read Warwick’s full presentation HERE, along with a simple demonstration HERE). One option I am favouring is to stick with FPP for now and include the binding poll with 2028 local election papers, and that way we can let the people decide at minimal cost. Of interest, Hamilton City just recently had a vote to change from STV back to FPP, but this has caused something of a controversy and there are already moves afoot to reverse it before the September deadline. Hamilton Councillor Sue Moroney is leading that particular charge and you can read more about that HERE.

New Years Fireworks CANCELLED: To be absolutely clear – this was not brought before elected members to decide or discuss, either this term or last. This is a staff decision to save around $50K based on a previous directive to curb costs. So I am just as surprised as anybody to have this sprung upon us, but unfortunately not very surprised at the poor way this has been handled. I myself am fairly ambivalent about fireworks, but I know they bring joy to many people and there are those who drive a long way just to come and see them. The bigger question for Mayor John Funnell, is: Why does he let the ship be so steered in this way, to just let a bureaucrat decide?

How to spend $3M in one place: Okay many of you have probably been aware of some works happening just downhill of the Napier Road / Kiddle Drive roundabout (you know, that one which Council installed around 2020 for $2M). Some of you might even know that it was to replace the 30 metre timber footbridge which was starting to fall into space, but do any of you know that by the time it is finished we will have spent $1M to replace it? My interest in this was recently triggered by the following resident contact:

“Initially was a repair of the bridge and stabilizing bank underneath. Was quoted for by several local companies but TDC accepted out of town quote. Napier Rd started collapsing during process. That company wasted so much money on something that wasn’t going to ever work. Now another company has taken over and the road has had to be stabilized with rods so first lot of works was a total waste of money. Traffic management must have cost a fortune. The company that Initially advised the council the foot bridge was not a good choice have been called in to sort the shambles out. It’s been going on for so long and has been a poor council decision from the start. Would love to see a cost trail!! It would be terrifying”

So I am now starting to ask questions like: “Wasn’t there any other way?”. For example, I sketched up the below in PURPLE for an alternative walking link which I am confident would work. My rough order estimate (and this is more or less my line of work): $200K at very most. Folks, that’s an awful lot of fireworks we could have burned instead, more than enough for a good show every last Friday of the month. Yet another example of why we need your Councillors Elect to be given mechanisms set in stone that will give real and proper oversight of what your money gets spent on, because after all we are the ones who sign off and are responsible for it all.

SuperGold Users Under Threat: Okay I attended a meeting of the Waikato Regional Council (WRC) Public Transport Committee special workshop meeting this week to discuss some proposed revision in fares. Nothing too much affects Taupo which we can do anything about anyway, except for the proposed deletion of peak hour travel for SuperGold Card users (by peak hour, we are talking around 7-9am and 3-6pm), excerpt shown below. Anyway this is just a proposal at this stage to be publicly consulted the next couple of months, so any affected oldies better get their acts together to submit a response if you are one of those affected (keep an eye out for news release by WRC). The government only gives SuperGold subsidy for off-peak travel, which I figure makes sense for congested cities but hardly for the more empty buses we have around here.

Gee whiz really: I have fielded a few questions lately about the fate of the $80M TEL Fund which Councillors discussed a week or so ago in a closed workshop, and have been telling people to wait for the official news release – well, you can now read it HERE. But if you want to save a few minutes valuable time just read this snippet of it here: “Council held a closed workshop last month to receive legal advice on how it can affirm and protect the TEL Fund for its intended purpose. There are a few different avenues that can be explored to preserve the fund, but each comes with different advantages and disadvantages, including costs. Work on the matter is continuing”. In other words, we are hedging our bets and watching our words because the lawyers are telling us to be careful what we say.

More garbage from Sophie: For local investigator Epitome of Coolness’s latest post on tracing the $5M question of Taupo rubbish read HERE. I do hope she starts looking at incinerators too, because that would mean we won’t have to dig a bigger hole by precious Mount Tauhara. And what about that wheelie bins idea we had a few years ago…

Help Wanted: Mayor John Funnell is wanting some help by the sounds, and is prepared to use your money to make it happen. Anyone interested you have until 23 August to apply HERE , and a few of us Councillors are already typing up our CV’s in hope of a decent pay rise.

Oh yeah nearly forgot: We had a Water Services Committee meeting yesterday which you can watch HERE, but not many shots were fired except at wet wipes and a confirmation from the Commerce Commission that yes, it is indeed the job of this committee not theirs to ensure that ratepayers get value for money.

Fridays we shall remember them who did this to us, and you better be careful if there’s a next time: