Wellington City Council purpose not accountable to community

In what appears a significant shift in his own stated purpose, and political direction, Wellington ’s Political Busker, Benjamin Easton is planning to take the Wellington City Council into the High Court to review its plan to open up Manners Mall to buses.

By11 –4, in favour of opening up the mall, the Council appears to be directly challenging an overwhelming public majority against the decision. As Mr Easton does his busking in the mall, the decision will directly affect his busking.

Easton is better known for court action against broadcasting and advertising entities, challenging what he claims to be actions of propaganda directly damaging fatherhood. As well he is putting in legal challenges against the legal fraternity and their inability to prove that they are performing responsibly, protecting the public from any corrupted legal practice.

“What disturbs me in this Council decision” says Easton , is that there does not seem to be a will by the 11 to recognise “fiduciary” responsibilities to the community. It seems to me more like the Councillors are determined to prove that they have a right to own and control anything resembling a decision, paying little or no regard to how far from the public’s stated opinion that decision might be”.

Easton marks this saying that it doesn’t appear that compensation for losses of income from the mall being opened are in the Council’s consideration. “There is no question that the Council can recognise that the foot traffic will be reduced by opening up the mall. They even write about it as an objective! If this is the action of a Council attempting to follow through with its authority without paying for the damage it is going to cause numerous people, then the actions are nothing different from those of a playground bully taking control of everyone else’s rights to get on with their lives in a reasonable, fearless and ordinary way”, continues the Political Busker.

“I do my busking in Manners Mall and the survey I have taken so far of 300 people tells me that less than 15% of the public want the buses.” This is in direct contrast with the independent poll of 500 citizens the Council paid for, saying that 68% were in favour of opening it up. “That figure is just not right” rejects Easton .

“That kind of figure, in contrast to mine, needs to be tested before a judge. Mine earned me a few bucks to find out that very few are happy about the change and the surveyors probably got paid several thousands of dollars to find out exactly what the Council needed to hear.”

Easton is organising another survey with a slightly different focus and plans in his first action to seek an order to have that survey inserted into the Council recorded statistics and if that goes to plan will file for a judicial review of the Council’s decision.

ENDS

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