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https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1907/S00529/porirua-city-council-loses-touch-with-locals.htm


Porirua City Council loses touch with locals

Housing Action Porirua Says Porirua City Council has lost touch with the people of Eastern Porirua by opening up nominations to anyone and everyone for a governance board that will decide the future of housing and well being in the area.

" Although council states that 'the majority of the board should have a deep connection to Eastern Porirua' there is no process to ensure that candidates from the board have our support.Nominees should have to show that they have the support, specifically from the residents of Eastern Porirua."

"We know that we have community leaders who have a great depth of community knowledge and governance experience. Therefore we do not need the input of supposed experts,without a living knowledge of our community to represent us"

"Council and its partner say they have learnt some lessons from the disastrous Tāmaki Housing Development in Glenn Innes but their latest behaviour and decision making tells us, they have not."

"For the 25 year regeneration project for Eastern Porirua to be sucessful, the community needs to be confident that their representatives on the board can relate to them and genuinely care about their well being. That's unlikely to happen if they are not local or known in our community."

"With only 7 seats on the board and no spaces allocated for community nominees,we need the opportunity to put our best forward and we are
certain the best people to represent us, are us." Says Housing Action Porirua spokesperson, Jasmine Taankink

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