Time to lose the blinkers, gents

BY ALAN CLARKE

There's a lot that can be said about blinkers, if you have the inclination.

In another life, well, 30 years ago, I let myself get talked into signing up for a share in a racehorse.

A chap called Gordon Davidson ran the Browngate Stud a few kilometres out of Invercargill, and a couple of older blokes from work were interested in a young gelding named Browngate Ward, and called me in to make up the numbers.

The mutt was by Honest Master who was a pretty good sire and I suggested honouring its old man by changing its name to Master Bates once the purchase went through - sad I know, but a 23-year-old Invercargill boy's sense of humour generally has a fair bit of developing to do.

I visited Davidson a few times and eventually he let me take one of his better behaved young pacers out for a spin on his training track.

I've never experienced the thrill of getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari, but if its motor is 500 times more powerful than that one-horsepower drive I had on a crisp spring afternoon it must be something pretty special.

The sale eventually fell over, the syndicate disbanded having achieved absolutely nothing and that was the end of it with racing for me - probably just as well.

I did hear the nag was sold to Australia and won a couple of races there. But I might have been misled about that.

Anyway, blinkers. Horse people use them to keep skittish racehorses' minds on the job. As far as trainers are concerned, that means getting to the finish line first.

I imagine the horse's priority is going full out in order to get the annoying little whip-wielding bugger off his back as soon as possible and return home for a curry comb massage and a nice feed of oats. Or, as far as harness racers are concerned, getting finished and free of the shafts, bit, hopples and the even more annoying big bugger with the much longer whip who is getting a free ride in the cart behind.

The purpose of blinkers, then, is to reduce the likelihood of distraction, which can lead to being thrown off stride. They assist with singlemindedness. And not just with trotters and gallopers. The majestic old Clydesdale, plodding up and down the field, hauling the plough, day after day, might be rather less obliging if he could see the sprightly young mare a couple of paddocks away.

Talking of mares and blinkers leads rather nicely to Aldo Miccio's petition which basically sets out the groundwork for the region to ultimately make an informed choice on amalgamation. I find it extraordinary that the Tasman District Council, and its Mayor, Richard Kempthorne, seem to break stride and gallop for the hills whenever the A word is mentioned.

Whatever could be wrong with asking an independent and credible body to have a good hard look at the current local authority structure and throw some facts and figures into the ring?

The amalgamation issue has been bubbling along for years now, and it isn't going to go away, unless an impartial investigation shows that it won't work. Or, unless the reactionaries vote against reform in the eventual poll, regardless of the facts.

What are they afraid of, out there on the other side of Champion Rd? Yes, Nelson plans to increase debt in the next 10 years, but so does Tasman - big time. And it's still the debt of one region, so why not lump it on to one balance sheet?

In my last column, I challenged the grumpy old men of Nelson to head Richmond's way and ask a few searching questions. There was a deafening silence, so I'll play grumpy old man myself for a moment.

I'm especially interested to know by how much Richmond ratepayers currently subsidise the rest of the district. I'm certain they do, but it's difficult to gauge by how much.

I also wonder how much better off Richmond people would be if they were to join Nelson city. My guess is that an average Richmond ratepayer pays around 20 per cent more than someone with an equivalent property in the city, though comparisons are difficult, different rating systems and all.

And, as the overall district rates appear, on average, to be similar or only slightly higher than Nelson city's, that suggests a significant amount of subsidising is being demanded of Richmond people.

The best way to verify that would be to go through all of the TDC estimates and make a judgment call on who should be funding each item. The total of these for each area could then be compared with the actual rates received from each area. But I have the number-crunching skills of a soft-boiled egg, and would not be up to that task.

Comparing the way the ratepayers of the two districts are treated is not made easier by the huge and complicated array of special rates and levies charged by the TDC - 25 of them in all, rendering the task of identifying the average Tasman ratepayer all but impossible.

There are the Ruby Bay, Mapua and Motueka stopbank rates and the Waimea fireblight control rate (for the removal of hawthorn). There are stormwater charges across 16 different areas, the various water supply rates and charges, the Motueka urban and Takaka firewells supply.

There are the shared facilities rate and the facilities operations rate, the Wai-iti community dam rate, the ... well, I could go on for another three paragraphs but I'm sure you get the drift.

It is nothing if not complex. Even aligning the two councils' primary rates assessment methods could keep an army of accountants in business for a month. And they'd surely need blinkers in order to retain their focus.

I guess my point is that blinkers can be good for workhorses and bureaucrats. They're not such a good idea when donned voluntarily by the showponies ... well, in fact, the elected representatives who are supposed to be about vision - peripheral as well as forward-looking.

You'd think some of the opponents of the amalgamation drive have had theirs adapted to include ear plugs attached to an MP3, playing soothing if banal Abba ditties and drowning out the voice of reason.

I might be flogging a dead horse by supporting the intention of Mr Miccio's petition. Of course there will be winners and losers. The point is to at least get an independent, impartial investigation going. Ultimately, the "neighs" might well have it - but let's throw away the blinkers and give the issue the objective focus it deserves.

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