Letter to editor: “To CHB Water Barons – pay your debts!”

Abridged version of letter to editor, as published in print version of Hawkes Bay Today, Tuesday 30th August 2022, penned by Wise Water Use's Gren Christie. The unabridged version appear below.

Unabridged version of letter submitted to editor

I wish I didn’t have to pay my debts, in fact, get more extended credit but like just about everybody else that doesn’t happen.

If you or I had failed to comply with our financial commitments for 2years and didn’t want to front up with the next payment on time a couple of things could happen. (We are talking $300,000 + here)

The lawyers or the leg breakers would be knocking on our door, well , unless of course we were well healed CHB farmers or businessmen and potentially had some HB Regional Councillors sympathetic to our ambitions.

Then we would be treated differently and normal rules wouldn’t apply.

All of a sudden it’s their hands in our pockets and they are not there for love.

The decision on whether or not the rules apply equally and fairly will be debated by Councillors on Wednesday 31st August.

I can only surmise that any individual councillor’s who allow these bad debtors off the hook also support the environmentally destructive goals of those seeking favour .

The best outcome would be for HBRC to cancel the resource consents which have accrued the debt unless there is prompt payment of all money owed.

Gren Christie

Waipukurau