Revolution starts here

Viva La Revolution !

Well, I had to get your attention somehow. We’re not like the French, where they set things on fire, or like the British, who quietly get quite jolly well annoyed and noisily get kettled, or like other unnamed countries where they stamp on your effigy with their shoes – or set fire to your flag. Shocking. Goodness me, an unprotected rectangle of material – whatever next?

But, we are New Zealand, and so we’ll do things decorously, unless some MP drives a tractor up the front steps. And we might do some chanting and singing, and wave a placard. Or set up a working party.

Which is exactly what Nick Smith, Minister for Destroying the Environment has done. Apparently, and you may not know this, as I did not, or you may, in which case you’re very clever and deserve a gold star on your breeches: the Resource Management Act is to be Reformed.

Yes, again. It’s broken you see, and developers cannot walk all over everything they want to without having to go through paperwork. And we need paperwork, because we grow a lot of trees, and send them to Asia at low cost to be pulped and made into paper, which we then buy back at much higher cost, because that is what the market says is right. And the market is never wrong, except with odd things like Enron. And that nice Mr Hotchins and his Blue Chip Holdings. Oooh, and Bear Stearns, Leaman Brothers, AIG etc. And not forgetting the finance companies here, like, South Canterbury Finance, and, well actually every single merchant finance company in the entire country. Because the market is never wrong, even when it eats itself alive. Must be right – shows it is working.

Anyway, yes, Reform of the RMA. Submissions close Friday 17 December. Go here. Click this.
Read the documents on Building Competitive Cities, that are available online. They’re big documents – 70 pages here, another 95 pages there – but it will affect architects and planners and the District Schemes all over the country. So: read, digest, and submit. And revolt, if you so care.

Post-script – the British are revolting – or, to be more precise, English students are really revolting. A massive tripling of their student fees, that will almost certainly spell the end of the education of the working class and lower middle class in England, or a mass exodus to Scotland. Possibly even New Zealand. Anywhere but England. But how about this picture – looking positively Orwellian. And still fervently anti-slavery to boot….

And then for a shot of the anti-Monarchy yet to come, check out the expression on Camilla’s face, as the Royal Roller gets a fresh white paint job. Heads could yet roll…..