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When officialdom railroads a resident for a road

When officialdom railroads a resident for a road

April 15th 2019 OPINION: What happens when you take a stand against Hamilton City council? Murray and Margaret Shaw have spent nearly three decades developing several hectares of prime Peacocke land - not for Read more

Is it sensible for councils to use public money to bail out public entities?

Is it sensible for councils to use public money to bail out public entities?

April 1st 2019 OPINION: Historically, councils grew out of road and water boards, but these days, it seems like they exist to bail out bad public spending programmes. Auckland Council has committed $63 million to Read more

Where's Hamilton headed and do we want to go there?

Where's Hamilton headed and do we want to go there?

July 16th 2018 OPINION: Way back when the ancient Greeks first tried democracy in the city of Athens, only landowners were allowed to vote. If the city were threatened by an army, epidemic, or drought, merchants a Read more

A game of policy leaves Hamilton architect crestfallen

A game of policy leaves Hamilton architect crestfallen

March 18th 2019 OPINION: I am not a fan of politics and the games politicians play. I am, however, very interested in policy. This is the framework that defines our future, so it is important to get it right. Read more

Why good people do bad things to each other

Why good people do bad things to each other

March 11th 2019 OPINION: The infamous Stanford University Prison Experiment pitted two groups of students against each other. One group was asked to role-play prisoners, and the other group acted as the guards. The Read more

Time for council to seek feedback

Time for council to seek feedback

March 4th 2019 OPINION: When your waiter or waitress asks you " is everything all right with your meal?", it's because the managers genuinely want to here if there are any problems. Like many Kiwis, I hate Read more

Something rotten with the state of building

Something rotten with the state of building

February 23rd 2019 OPINION: Thank you to all the readers who give great feedback on these columns. Your stories of your own battles with bureaucracy motivate me to keep writing. Suggestions for topics are always welcom Read more

Slaves to process are not what we need

Slaves to process are not what we need

February 16th 2019 OPINION: Serial rapist Malcolm Rewa is currently being tried for the horrific 1992 murder of Susan Burdett. The case is infamous because Teina Pora was wrongfully imprisoned for twenty years and Read more

Grim prediction for Hamilton's housing debt

Grim prediction for Hamilton's housing debt

February 4th 2019 OPINION: In 1998 I wrote to the Department of Building and Housing about what I saw as an imminent crisis in the building industry. One of my builders had contacted me about a project just starting Read more

OPINION: Andrew Bydder wants to hear about rules that drive you up the wall

OPINION: Andrew Bydder wants to hear about rules that drive you up the wall

January 28th 2019 OPINION: The previous National government set up the Rules Reduction Taskforce which received more than 2,000 submissions from across the country. Their findings were released in the Loopy Rules Read more

OPINION: Rates gripe one of many, writes Andrew Bydder

OPINION: Rates gripe one of many, writes Andrew Bydder

January 21st 2019 OPINION: It's easy to criticise councils – every week I get enough topics from concerned citizens to fill a month's worth of articles. While each of these people have genuine complaints that des Read more

It's never pretty when bureaucrats and innovators collide

It's never pretty when bureaucrats and innovators collide

January 14th 2019 OPINION: Late last year a Port Chalmers resident got into a spot of bother with the Dunedin City Council. He was building a boat on a land-locked section and living in it while working on it. Read more

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