The alternative is for cabs to cruise slowly through the CBD waiting for people to flag them down, use pay & display carparks until they see a parking warden coming down the street, double park in the middle of our narrow central city corridors for pickups & dropoffs.

I think Celia should make a city bylaw to eliminate all the hills in Wellington. That way we could all bike into work & back without needing a shower & a change at the other end.

The real problem is that we have too many taxis for meet the waning demand in Wellington. Have you seen the queue of empty cabs at the airport recently? At least 60 waiting twiddling their thumbs waiting to get into the queue for the cab rank.

And backdated subsidies refunds for the private enterprise stadium.

I fear that would send them broke, which would just see us taxed of our refunds. Not paying them saves on administration costs.

All aircraft must be registered annually and pilots must have a license so it follows that the same rules apply for all road users including cyclists, plus the same rules for all sea going craft and operators.

Oh just think of all the extra revenue plus lots of jobs for number plate makers.

Perhaps users of rubbish bins in public place should pay?

And backdated subsidies refunds for the private enterprise stadium.

Sure the costs will be passed on to the consumers, but those consumers have other choices and if the cost of a taxi is too high, we will see more choose buses (or even walk for intra-CBD travel.)

It is not right for me to expect my fellow ratepayers to pay for the coffee beans, or even the coffee machine, so that I can enjoy the fine coffee here in our fair city, so why on earth would we pay for the temporary hitching of their (sometimes) chariots?

As m@tt pointed out, this is highly distortionary.

So, likewise, we can expect to see the ratepayer subsidy for rail and buses removed forthwith…

Surely you would have them charge for the roads too, Viking2? Or are you a socialist when it comes to roads?

I have a rather clever friend who has worked in many countries and has now decided to live in Texas. Previously, he had built his own home in Waikanae near the sea. According to the Council Building Compliance Experts, he had to have massively long piles together with all the other permits to do this and that.
My clever friend is again building another 4 bedroom house, this time with a 6 bay barn for tractor and other toys.
Wowee, but life is great in Texas – zero permits required.

As for water meters, just because other places have them doesn’t make it a good idea here.
Some years ago, the Kapiti Council promised a dam and what a damn good idea that is, instead of watching all the rain water going to waste out to sea. The Council said water meters would save water. What a joke! Let a huge amount run out to sea and that’s saving water.
And if I decide to collect and save rain water from the roof, will I get a rebate?
Fat chance.

Like anything else, of course it would have cost a bit, but then again so does a super duper swimming pool, a brand new Council Headquarters, a brand new Council Library – 3 absolutely unnecessary luxuries.

Exactly – what’s the difference. And wherever rail services infringe on public land.

And Grendal is right, they will just trouser the income and employ more spin doctors to tell us how great they are as they increase rates and think up even more grandiose schemes to spend OP money.

Why should councils provide water?
Or for that matter boat ramps, sports grounds,walking groups, worm farm trainers, building certifiers or a thousand other things that others could do more effectivley with the right legislation. After all we don’t expect a council to front up as a registered bank (although they think they are sometimes), nor as owners of knock shops, car wreckers or a billion other things.

Roads yes, sewerage yes but chargeable, and really that’s about it. the rest is just an empire for socialists to play in.

What a joke, since when did any council look to save ratepayers’ money?
Up here in Kapiti, the council are building a swanky new pool and installing water meters, neither of these projects wanted by the ratepayers. The council already have almost $200 million debt, but what the hell, don’t worry about paying that off first, just add more.
If they’re serious about saving ratepayers’ money, get rid of the many waste of space managers/executives and departments and get back to council basics – providing water, roading and sewerage disposal to property owners.