North Shore City ratepayers urged to attend an extra ARC briefing next Tuesday.

Statement fom David Thornton

"Only 11 members of the public attended an ARC public meeting about its Long Term Community Plan, and its rates, on the Tuesday after Easter. An extra meeting has now been arranged for next Tuesday 27th April at 7pm in the Takakpuna War Memorial Hall.

"The purpose of the meeting is to encourage people to make submissions, particularly on options for a revised rating system.

"The low turn-out at all of the meetings so far lead to ARC chair Gwen Bull to issue the warning that, if people did not make submissions, ".don't complain after the rates have been set. It will be too late."

"I urge all ratepayers to attend next Tuesday's meeting and ask some searching questions about why businesses are being treated more leniently than residential ratepayers again this year, and why the ARC proposes to increase rates by more than 13% in the following year"

"Ratepayers should demand that all the letters of protest, against the rates, which they sent to the ARC last year should be considered as submissions on this year's Plan which proposes to leave the rating system unchanged".

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