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Speaker 1: There's a heated debate in the Cargo over city council

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Speaker 1: plans to spend two million dollars on a clock tower.

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Speaker 1: The council's paying two mil nearby Distinction Hotel is stumping

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Speaker 1: up another two mil. Ian Pottinger is a city councilor

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Speaker 1: and is with us. Now, Hi Ian, Hi there Ian.

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Speaker 1: Why are you guys wanting to build a clock tower

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six when everyone knows the time because

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Speaker 1: we've got cell phones with the time on it.

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Speaker 2: Great, great question. Well, especially in the time where central

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Speaker 2: government want in councils to look at rate capping and

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Speaker 2: spending prudently. The actual the actual need for the clock

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Speaker 2: is no more. It's currently a hole in the ground

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Speaker 2: covered by a topple and fences. What it was put

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Speaker 2: there for years ago was that particular end of Esk

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Speaker 2: Street now where a Distinction hotel sits beautifully was sort

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Speaker 2: of how do we cover it up the type thing,

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Speaker 2: and it was put there with other other hideaway stuff

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Speaker 2: just so you don't see anything behind it. That's all gone.

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Speaker 2: Now we have a beautiful, beautiful new hotel, beautifully paved walkways,

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Speaker 2: a new city mall, no need whatsoever for this clock.

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Speaker 1: Okay, now, am I right in understanding that this is

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Speaker 1: a council that actually can't afford some traffic lights?

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Speaker 2: Correct? In the meeting on Tuesday, we had two public submitters.

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Speaker 2: One was a local junior high school that have a

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Speaker 2: precarious four lane road going past one side of their

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Speaker 2: school with a pedestrian crossing, and so they were wanting

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Speaker 2: quite illuminated please slow down stop sort of lights whatever

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Speaker 2: the experts put in, and that obviously at council expense,

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Speaker 2: which we expect to do and we have to. We

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Speaker 2: were told we have to go and try and find

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Speaker 2: funding for this, you know, from New Zeale and trans

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Speaker 2: or we don't have money in the bank, effectively. The

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Speaker 2: other one was a group of local young people who

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Speaker 2: were wanting bus shelters so they could wait for the

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Speaker 2: bus without getting rained on, you know, which is a

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Speaker 2: reasonable requestion in the cargo. Both those were submitters that day,

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Speaker 2: and then right at the end we see this folly

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Speaker 2: of the two million dollar clock, and I just had

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Speaker 2: to say, excuse me, you know, it's dat.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, good luck with it, Ian, I'm glad you're calling

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Speaker 1: it what it actually is. Ian Potter, And just in

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Speaker 1: the Cargo City councilor.

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