Waihi Community Forum Workshops Worked Well Bhavesh Ranchhod, spokesperson for Waihi Community Forum called into the Gold FM studio to discuss the success of the recent Property Purchase Guideline Workshops that were held in May. Mr Ranchhod said the objective of the workshops was to consult with the community about the Independent Review Panels property purchase programme. The forum has been seeking community input about the guidelines and process used for property purchases. Last year the consultation was done by way of public meetings and this year the forum did workshops which they say worked, with some great ideas coming out of them. The feedback is being collated, guidelines will be finalised and then they will be issued to the public. One of the strong themes from the workshop was that we only have $4 million dollars for property purchases and thats it for the life of the consent. We need to use that money wisely, so weve made the decision that were not going to open those rounds until production blasting begins, Bhavesh Ranchhod said. It will probably happen later this year or early next year but wed certainly like to open the applications by the end of the year. The effects of production blasting are unknown at this stage which is one of the reasons the forum has been waiting to complete the process. Mining Royalties are on the agenda for the forum as well. We would like to see at least a portion of those royalties returned to the Waihi community for spending in this area, Mr Ranchhod said. Martha Mine is exempt from royalties but Correnso is not and the issue is that royalties go to Central Government at present but none of that money comes back to Waihi. The Waihi Community Forum has made a submission to Local Government New Zealand and political parties have also been made aware of their views. There have been a couple of changes to the forums line-up. One member resigned and Waihi East resident Anne Marie Spicer has replaced him and councillor Max McLean has replaced retired councillor Sel Baker. Click play to hear the interview.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 22:49:38 +0000
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