Country Living – The naked truth on rural roads

So, what propels a middle-aged mother of five to strip naked in a pothole of soapy mud in the middle of winter? Is it community depravity, inequality or perhaps sheer madness? No, it’s a desperate cry for help and a confronting love letter to a system that is broken and those who endorse it. Rural roads have reached crisis point and the personal cost to maintain vehicles on them has reached new heights of inequality. Make no mistake, the rural communities pay around half of Rodney’s general rates and our industry helps to underpin the economies of our beautiful towns. Fuel tax? Yes, we are paying truckloads of it but, unfortunately, we are told that the bulk of our fair portion, needed for our roads, must be deferred for six years in order to fund “priority projects”, and so it goes on …  At the current rate, my road will not be sealed for about 600 years. Nobody  should accept that our roads to schools, entire communities and major rural industry are still in this condition. Since when have the lines between dire needs and luxury wants become so blurred?

The local government elections are upon us, and it’s heartbreakingly cruel to know that the promises for a fair share will be dumped on the scrapheap, along with all the ones that have gone before. The Rodney First ticket on the local board added to these woes when they told the rural community that their contribution from the Rodney transport targeted rate was to go towards desperately needed tar seal extensions, but then, behind closed doors, they used their block voting power to steal our portion from us. The rural communities would like their portion of this rate given back for its original intended purpose.

The ever-amorous ex-mayor Len Brown told us we were all “one big family”. If this is true, then I just want to let him know that not all the kids are being fed. Rodney is a diverse ward full of dozens of communities that enrich us all, and all of them are paying their way and deserve to see a return for their rates investment. Elected representatives don’t get to rewrite the meaning of equality and fairness. You are either fair or you are not, and if you are not, best you put your fingers above the table. No amount of political junk spiel will override the raw reality of what we are living with, and the fact that some of these communities have not seen change or progress for the generations of rates they have paid. Bravery does not come in the form of taxing the living ass out of the working class and fixed income. True courage is found within the homes of those who find creative ways to succeed and provide for all their family members within their means. This election we are all searching for a hero, but I believe that hero can be found right inside our own hearts – fairness, kindness and equality must surely be the finest sword we all carry.

Julie Cotton
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