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When residents have a gripe about rain, stray dogs, berm maintenance, or even a tree root, they call their councillor. Today The Detail is calling those councillors, too.
Bryan Cadogan has 27 years of local politics stories up his sleeve, but the 2am phone call from a furious resident takes the cake.
The former Clutha mayor picked up the phone to hear a demand that he do something about the roadworks clamour outside the resident's house.
"They were absolutely goin' off at me, calling me all the words under the sun."
"What the hell's wrong?" Cadogan asked.
The answer:
"You're rippin' up the road right in front of my house at two o'clock in the morning and you - ya useless prick -you told them to do it!" he says the resident yelled.
Roadworks noise is just one of many ratepayer bugbears Cadogan dealt with over the years. In this case it was a state highway, so outside of his control.
Not that the resident apologised. Cadogan says more abuse was hurled at him before the phone call ended.
Most people had genuine complaints that he could help with, but there were also the "frequent flyers that just flew in low and hit hard".
From blocked drains to stray dogs, The Detail looks at suburbia's most vexing issues, and how people's behaviour has changed over the years.
For Horowhenua District councillor Sam Jennings there is one issue that is "bizarrely polarising".
"Berms. Berms. Lots and lots about berms," he says.
"Horowhenua made some decisions last year about reducing its level of service around cutting berms, so that's generated quite a bit of interest and activity and some angst over the last 12 months.
"Some people say 'it's your land, take some pride and look after it as the resident in closest proximity to it,' and then others are like 'no I pay my rates, it's absolutely something that the council must do. It's their land, if they don't want to do it, I'm going to Roundup it'."
Jennings says he has learnt a lot about how the council works and responds to these issues, but he's also learnt about human nature.
People are more likely to take their neighbourhood gripe to a councillor, these days, rather than talk directly to their neighbour about issues like overgrown trees or rubbish bin placement.
"I don't know whether that's because people don't want to have the confrontation or they feel uncomfortable, but I feel like there's an increase on that reliance on a third party to resolve these small neighbourhood disputes or issues."
When it rains the queries and complaints come thick and fast to Auckland North Shore councillor Richard Hills.
"People will DM [direct message] me on Facebook or Instagram, or tag me on Twitter, or email me, or phone me, or text me."
If it's raining hard he'll get 20 to 30 tags or messages a day.
"I think it reduces people's anxiety. The last five or six years with covid and storms and everything else, I think people just want to be reassured that nothing's going to change dramatically for them and then they can go about their day again," says Hills.
Other big issues that Hills is asked to tackle are congestion on the T3 lane on Onewa Rd, roaming dogs, parking in narrow streets, demands for yellow lines and residents wanting to be involved in the hunt for the yellow-legged hornet.
"People will just create their own vigilante actions because they want to help, if we don't empower people," he says.
New Plymouth mayor Max Brough insists there are no issues in his city.
"We're a perfect council, I don't have any problems in my district," he jokes, before he is reminded about the resident threatened with a $1000 fine in a stoush with the council over her berm.
"It was about a young lady who got a bit stubborn. She didn't like how policies were working and applied."
The matter was eventually resolved and Brough says he understands both sides of the argument - but he also admits to a conflict of interest.
That "young lady" is his daughter.
For the first time, his council is setting up a public engagement committee where people can bring their issues forward to a group of councillors, who will decide on the merits of the problem and whether or not to take it further.
"That's what people want right? That's why they elect us locally, is to listen to their problems and help work through them."
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