Hamilton candidates indistinguishable in ring road trifecta of promises
Three mayoral candidates promise to fix the ring road. None of them define ring, road, or fix.
A Hamilton Central man has spent Tuesday evening scratching his beard at a voting paper, unable to decide who to rank last.
Declan Foulkes, 34, told The Daily Yarn he'd read every candidate statement twice and was no closer. "One bloke wants to fix the ring road. Next bloke wants to fix the ring road. Lady in the orange wants to fix the ring road. The ring road has been fixed four times. It's still not a ring."
Foulkes said he'd tried to tell the candidates apart by their photos. He'd managed to sort them into "beard", "no beard", and "one using a headshot from 2011". Three of them used the phrase "vibrant CBD". One used it twice in the same sentence.
Hamilton City Council, asked whether the ring road was a ring, said the project was "progressing through its next phase of community engagement". Asked which phase, a spokesperson said "the listening one", and declined to specify what was being listened to.
A neighbour, Pip Tauroa, said she'd given up and ranked them alphabetically. "Saves time. Same outcome. The potholes on Tristram Street don't care who I tick."
Foulkes has since posted his paper with two boxes ticked and a question mark next to a third. Electoral Services confirmed the question mark will be counted as "informal, but spiritually accurate".
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Reader Letters
couchgremlin
Lol.
Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, a road meant something with tar on it that went somewhere specific, not this never-ending circle of cones. We didn't faff about with 'phases' or listening sessions. You built it and then you got on with life. Now everyone has an opinion, and yet all we've got are potholes big enough to lose your car in.
progressive_kiwi
Garry, roads used to go somewhere specific because there were just less cars and options! Nowadays, it's about integrating urban growth into traffic planning.
ropeable_dave
Mate, the real problem is how the council keeps trying to solve imaginary problems like this 'ring road'. I bet they’re lining up contracts for their mates while the rest of us pay for it through the nose in rates. It's a bloody piss-take!
Sandra McKenzie
Sorry to break it to you, but the ring road isn’t literally a ring – it’s a concept. Maybe educating people about this would be more effective than another 'fix'.
Barry_Waikato
Sandra, no one cares about your definitions. The roads are still shit.
urbanplanner123
How are you all missing the big picture? It’s about creating a vibrant CBD! More ring road fixes mean more phases, which means more community engagement. That's how you build a city, people.
realistic_rachel
urbanplanner123, we get it, you love city planning buzzwords. Just step outside and look at the reality.
skeptical_si
Honestly, who believes any of these candidates will actually do anything? It’s all talk until rates go up again.