Don’t you get it?  

I’m not saying this to you – I’m saying it to the Christchurch City Council, which thinks there is no need to have locals on this new committee its setting up to oversee the red zone on the east side of Christchurch.  

This is the 600-hectare Ōtākaro/Avon River Corridor which has attracted all sorts of controversy since the government took it over after the earthquakes.  

Tens of thousands of people used to live in the area before 2011. Not anymore.   

There is a plan to do something with it. It’s a long-term plan, but this committee is being set-up to look after things for the time being. And the council is demonstrating classic council arrogance, thinking it doesn’t need to include any of the people who have put their hearts and souls into the area. 

And instead, it’s setting up a committee involving people from the local iwi and the council itself.  

People who will sit around the table, make decisions, and it will all be very convenient because they won’t have to deal with those pesky locals.   

Pesky locals who used to live in the area, went through the trauma of being turfed out after the quakes, but didn't turn their back on it.  

They stayed involved. Stayed committed to the future of this 11-kilometre stretch of land that goes from pretty much the centre of town out to the east.  

But they don't need to be involved in any of the official stuff – that’s what the council thinks. And I completely disagree with what it’s doing.  

And I know exactly why the council is doing this. It’s excluding the locals from this new committee because people who aren’t part of the local government machine are a pain in the backside.  

Again, I’m not saying that, but that’s how councils and government agencies see it.  

They like to keep people at arm's reach. Fobbing us off with the old line about consultation and having an opportunity to have our say at some point.  

But what these outfits miss is that we are over being fobbed off in that way. In fact, most people are over being consulted. So why wouldn't you let the people who are actually passionate about the area get involved in a more official capacity? It makes absolutely no sense to me.   

So what’s happened is 32 people representing most groups working in the river corridor have written an open letter to the mayor, the deputy mayor, and local iwi, telling them that there needs to be a local on this committee.  

And the really important thing to note here, is that no one knows how long this committee is going to be in place.  

The regeneration plan for the red zone will take decades and this committee could be around for yonks. Which is why there has to be more than just council and iwi reps on it.  

Surely we know by now that, when it comes to anything to do with post-earthquake recovery, nothing happens on time. Things take years and we often look up and realise that some short-term temporary thing is going on for ever.  

Which this committee could end up doing. Let's face it, it probably will.  

And, let’s face it, anything that has been happening in the area so far has been led by the community.  

For them to be shut out by the council at this point is a slap in the face and the council must confirm that a member of the local community will be on this committee from day one.