A unique position is offered on a Rangitaiki Plains Kiwifruit orchard/lifestyle block to the right people/person.

We are looking for a retired couple or single person to rent our newly renovated and furnished 2 bedroom unit.

The unit is situated adjacent to the main house where the owners live on a 5 Ha kiwifruit orchard/lifestyle block in pleasant rural surrounds. It is 20 Km from Whakatane and close to Awakeri, Edgecumbe and Te Teko. It is less than an hour to Rotorua and Tauranga and handy to beaches.

The unit is approx 100 sq meters and is mostly furnished. It has 2 bedrooms, one with a king size bed and the other with 2 singles.  There is a generous sized lounge with sofas, coffee table, and 42 “ TV (freeview) or connect your own sky decoder. The kitchen and dining is ample and has a 6 seat dining suite, fridge and electric stove with ceramic top.

There is a bathroom with shower and toilet (no bath).  The wash house has a washing machine and plenty of room.  This area also supports staff whom might be working on the orchard and has a separate toilet off the wash house with separate external access.

There is a small wood stove which really warms the unit up on even the coldest night, and a large efficient heat pump with aircon in the summer.

There is undercover parking for a vehicle available in an adjacent shed and plenty of room for vehicles on the site. There is broadband internet in the unit at no charge and a phone line able to be connected.

The owners are a (nearly) retired couple who have lived on the property for more than 20 years.  With a NZ Police background and currently serving as a District Councilor they are well known and respected in the area and have family next door.

The children have left home and been replaced by an elderly horse, 2 small dogs , 2 cats and a few bantams.  You are welcome to bring your own small pet to add to the menagerie if you wish.

We are looking for people who we can get along with and who we can trust to look after the property and pets while we are away touring in our RV (Which might be often).  This would involve looking after the grounds and clearing mail etc.

For the right people willing to look after the property we would negotiate substantial rent discounts.

There is the possibility of work on the orchard or even child minding for neighbours if the right people can be found. This is a very unique opportunity that will not come along very often.

We are looking for family oriented, decent and honest people with a sense of humour, a work ethic and a sense of pride. We are in no hurry to fill the unit (which is currently empty and ready) as we would rather wait for the right person/people.

You may have family in the area that you need to be closer too.  There is certainly room if you wished to have your own pony for a granddaughter and our elderly horse would love the company.  There is a well fenced but long overgrown vegetable garden, complete with irrigation system (bore water) with rotary hoe in the garden shed just waiting for someone who knows how to use it..

If you are in need of a complete lifestyle change and want to come down to the sunny BOP you need to seriously consider this opportunity. Give me a ring and if you check out (I will need some pretty good references etc) we could offer a free, no obligation week or 2 staying in the unit as a trial.

The successful tenant will need to sign a standard tenancy agreement with bond and conditions relating to any rent reductions that might be negotiated. Be quick…

I am really going to have to take the Beacon on a bit more.  It is a great local paper but from time to time their headline writing is very misleading. 

 Some of their content is a little astray as well..I dont think I will have any shortage of titbits…

This headline seems to indicate that the Hearings Committe felt that all country roads were not peaceful and tranquil? That is not what we said .. We said that the roads in the vicinity of the applicant’s proposed sites were not peaceful and tranquil and as far as I am concerned SH30 near Whakatane is anything but ‘tranquil’.

I note that this matter does not appear to have been resolved yet and I can imagine the Police have one or two other things to do at present. But .. it is their responsibility and they need to fulfill it.  These things can drag on and cause more problems if they are not swiftly dealt with .. justice delayed is justice denied?

As far as I can tell the Local Electoral Act 2001 has no specific time limit for the laying of an information (needed to commence a prosecution).  That being the case then section 14 of the Summary Offences Act applies and that states that an information must be laid within 6 months from when the matter arose.

On that basis the Police are well out of time to prosecuted so I am going to make a prediction here..

There will be no prosecution because the Police  have let this matter drag on  and the option to have it tested in the court has slipped away.

The Christchurch earthquake will certainly provide an excuse but maybe it is time the Police and the Government “fessed up” about their ability to fulfill their responsibilities?

Some interesting debates ahead as we head into a review of our Financial Strategy and the Rates review that will come out of it. 

The big issues we are facing revolve around affordability and sustainability. 

I have watched as this Council continues along as if it were still 2007.

I would like to be more optimistic but I am a realist.  If you are wondering what a realist is, here  is my definition …

A pessimist constantly moans about the wind being in the wrong direction and just sits there.

An optimist constantly claims that the wind will change and also just sits there.

A realist gets up and adjusts the sails!

I note that the trial of the Ruatoki “Terrorists” has been delayed yet again and very soon someone will be crying “Undue Delay” under the Bill of Rights and seeking to have the whole thing thrown out.  They will conveniently forget that the delays have been caused by the Defendant’s challenging every aspect of the process. 

In case you were wondering it is not a picture of Tame’s computer room and I am not sure where it is, however given all the money we have spent on IT over the past 5 years I would image every Council staff member would have a workstation that looked something like this?  (Minus the guns of course).

A lot of folk still dont understand the process.  It is not a “complaints” forum .. you dont have to wait until May every year to tell us that the leaves are blocking your drain or the trees need trimming.  It is also not a process where we can change rate funding policies. 

Our policies (which include how Disaster Mitigation is paid for) are decided every 3 years as part of the LTCCP  (Now called the LTP – Long term Plan).  We can not change them just because we get submissions in the Annual Plan process. (Although that is exactly what we did with the sale of the Pensioner flats it is frowned on by auditors).

The good news is that we are doing the 3 yearly review of the LTP later this year and those policies can be adjusted (or not) in time for the 2012 Annual Plan and the Rates that follow.

Another way of putting it is .. It takes a long time to get any changes through the process and into the rates demands.

I was looking back over the election stuff from last year.  Some of these sites may not stay up in the future so I thought I would grab a copy of Tony Bonne’s web site and load on here in case we forget what was promised? 

I know you visit my blog Tony! 

You can see his election statement here.

This sign is on SH2 on the sharp corner just east of Taneatua..

I can just imagine the conversation.. it would have gone something like this…

“Bugger! …  We have brought the wrong sign.  This is for a right hand corner and we have to put it on a left hand corner”

“I know .. turn it upside down .. who will notice?”

Update: 9/6/2011

I emailed NZTA about this back on 16th May and they replied that this had been passed to the Tauranga branch who would “look into it”.  Nothing happened and then the Beacon got wind of it. (Maybe from this blog?).  They contacted NZTA and the sign was fixed right away..  The power of the press huh!

Aelan and the team are back in Christchurch after a few days at home. There is still a lot to be done and if we thought Christchurch was bad we can only shake our head at the situation in Japan.

When nature is cruel .. she is very cruel!

The team spent the day carrying out entry and safety for engineers fromm overseasand around nz in building assessments. Working out what is demo and safe etc.

Update from Aelan KEEBER  - 12/3/11  9.45pm