NP Ratepayers' Alliance

18/06/2026

The Alliance wrote to the Board of Directors of the TOI Foundation today.

It seems that finding the documents to give feedback to the Board is not very easy, especially if you don’t have access to the internet. A lot of our older residents in New Plymouth, who bank with the TSB, do not have access to the internet.

We asked the Board of the TOI foundation to print out hard copies of the feedback document for the merger, and have these available in all the TSB branches, so all customer can give their feedback to the Board.

Please tell all the people you know, who don’t have access to the internet, to go in to their local branch and ask for a copy of the feedback form. So they can fill it in and

• Deliver it to the TOI foundation at 121 Gill Street,

Please help the older generation of New Plymouth, who have supported the TSB Bank for so many years, to have their say,

Do you have elderly family, neighbours or friends ? Please let them know they need a printed copy of the feedback form so they can have their say.

Please e-mail the TOI foundation and tell them you would like hard copies of the feedback form available in all the TSB Branches in New Plymouth. Send an e-mail to the Board here:
[email protected]

Please share the information in this post with anyone you know who may need a printed copy of the feedback form.

The community needs to get everyone together to let the TOI Foundation know how they feel about selling our bank.

17/06/2026

Roving reporter out and about….

Please share the feedback form, or link, about this merger far and wide. You can only have a say by using this submission process.

Some of our team were at the New Plymouth TOI Foundation public meeting for the merger of the TSB Bank and Heartland Bank. Around 150 people attended.

We are covering this issue as many ratepayers bank with the TSB Bank and/or have mortgages with the TSB Bank, so this issue affects a number of ratepayers. And many others in the community rely on this bank.

There was overwhelming feeling in the room that this merger should NOT go ahead.

The Board of Trustees told the audience last night the only way they can accept any feedback about the merger is by sending a submission.

As is common these days, giving the TOI Foundation feedback is not that easy if you don’t use email or websites.

• We have attached a copy of the form (2 pages) and the address to send it to, so people can give these forms to people without internet access.

• If you have elderly parents, friends, or neighbours who bank with the TSB but don’t have internet access, you may be able to print this off for them to fill in.
• If you don’t have access to a printer perhaps you can call in to the TOI Foundation building and ask them for a copy of the form.

The TOI Foundation building is located at 121 Gill Street, New Plymouth.

If you DO have access to the internet you don’t have to fill in the form, you can tick a few boxes online (at the bottom of the feedback page) and write your own comments. This is where you find the feedback page:
https://toifoundation.org.nz/your-feedback/

There is a box where you can type your own words. You can say as little as:

I do not support the TOI foundation proposal to merge the TSB Bank with the Heartland Bank.
I do not want this merger to go ahead.

Add any other comments if you would like to.

Please share this with others who are concerned about the merger of the TSB Bank. People have to send a submission to the TOI Foundation **or their opposition** will not be registered.

The TOI Foundation Board of Trustees, responsible for the TSB Bank, repeated many times that the purpose of the TOI Foundation is to gift grants to the Taranaki Community.

What seemed to be missing in the conversation was the original model for the TSB Bank to gift grants to the Taranaki Community was that they had to have a profitable bank. They had to make good profits so they could give them away. The Golden Goose which offered grants to the people of Taranaki was the successful TSB Bank.

It seems the TOI Foundation in recent years do not realise that without a profitable bank, there are no profits to share with the community.

There are a number of retail banks in NZ who are making extremely good profits – many say the profits are excessive for some banks – yet the Board of Trustees of the TOI Foundation are telling us they are struggling to make a profit running a retail bank.

Click here to find out more about the merger deal and what the TOI Foundation are doing:
https://toifoundation.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Fact-Sheet.pdf

17/06/2026

For anyone who would like to watch the public meeting on 17th June, with the TOI Foundation Board about the merger of the TSB Bank.

If you want to have your say about this proposed merger, they will only accept a written submission. You can do that here:
https://toifoundation.org.nz/your-feedback/

All you have to type at the bottom of the page is I don not support the merger, if that is what you want to say, and tick a few boxes to confirm you live in the Taranaki Region.

If a lot of Taranaki people do not write and say NO, the bank will be sold.

If you know people who do not use the internet, see our post with how to use a form to have your say.

Watch: Full livestream recording of Toi Foundation's second public meeting in New Plymouth for the proposed merger of TSB and Heartland Bank.

The meeting, which took place on Wednesday 17th June at Novotel, was a lively event with a range of community questions and views expressed.

A huge thank you to Bryan Vickery Media for assisting with filming for the livestream.

Video below 👇

15/06/2026

The biggest changes to local government in decades are happening, amalgamation of Local Councils, and all NZ Councils MUST prepare plans for their communities. There will be surveys happening over the next month or so to tell the NPDC what is important to you.

If you don’t tell the NPDC what’s important they will put forward what they think is best, as they will have no choice if the community doesn’t participate.

Making sure Taranaki retains it's local voice is a criteria that can be considered as important when Local Council Plans are assessed by Central Government. Make sure you have your say about what is important with YOUR local voice.

We have been working with the NPDC on getting open field boxes into surveys – where you can type the words YOU want to put. This survey has plenty of open text boxes. So, for people who say “they do whatever they want anyway” this survey has lots of places to say “what YOU want”, and what is important for YOU.

Central government has announced big changes to how local government will be structured, with the aim of reducing the number of councils across New Zealand. This is called the Head Start Pathway – Simplifying Local Government.

We have attached a few pages from the Head Start Pathway document, outlining some of the regional council activities which need to be combined with local council activities.

We will NOT be voting for Regional Councils in the next election, so regional council functions will need to be done by local councils. The central government do not want duplication of these functions across a region in the new region structure.

Mentioned in the Head Start document are some of the regional council activities which will be affected with amalgamation. Things like regional planning, transport, and catchment management. Depending on where you live, urban or rural areas, make sure you say what’s important.

New Plymouth District Council will take part in the Government’s Head Start amalgamation programme voluntarily. If local councils don’t voluntarily work out how amalgamation will happen, the central Government will make the decisions for them.

Central Government is working on the new Resource Management Act and significant changes are coming with how this will be managed. Local Councils need to work on amalgamation plans quickly to meet timelines with RMA changes.

A high level amalgamation plan for Taranaki must be with Central Government by 9th August.

The survey, for your thoughts about amalgamating our local councils, more information, and FAQ's, are here:
https://haveyoursay.npdc.govt.nz/shaping-taranakis-future

The survey is open until midnight on 28th June.

There will be more consultation, this survey is just trying to get a feel for what types of things are important to local people before preparing the next stages.

13/06/2026

The United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) meets the streets of New Plymouth, with new Cell Phone Towers being installed on berms outside homes by a company called Connexa.

This is one of the types of stories we write that we know people are going to be very unhappy about.

This is an absolute David and Goliath story, with multiple homeowners across New Plymouth (and NZ) as the David’s - and the NZ Government, The United Nations, and a Global Infrastructure Corporation as one huge massive Goliath.

It seems absolutely impossible for the people affected here to be able to do anything about what is going on, so we seriously thought about not putting this story out. We decided we would because:
• On one hand if people don’t know what our Government has done on our behalf, without our knowledge, we can never quite figure out why things are happening as they are,
• And, at least 6 more New Plymouth neighbourhoods are going to be affected by these new Cell Phone Towers,
• And, on the other hand we are hopeful that someone who has been involved in the Telecommunications Industry may see this story, or be forwarded this story, and may have some idea of loopholes that may be explored with the situation our city (and country) finds itself in,
• Or, residents who have dealt with Connexa in other cities of NZ may see our story and have advice of things that have worked for changes with their towers.

So how have we got to a situation where a company no one in New Plymouth has heard about turns up and starts telling people they are putting up multiple massive cell phone towers across town, on people’s berms, right outside their houses, and there is nothing they can do about it, as legislation is all in place for them to do pretty much whatever they choose.

Over around 15 years, successive NZ Governments – both Labour Coalitions and National Coalitions - have enabled changes to our laws and enabled changes within our Telecommunications regulations, where people no longer know what is happening and consultation became obsolete as these changes have been made.

• Those changes are now playing out on the streets in New Plymouth (and NZ).

**So, how did a United Nations International Treaty become part of NZ legislation where around 800 of these towers are to hit NZ streets in coming years ?**

To start with, one of the Coalitions signed us up for The United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) treaty.

The United Nation’s ITU's work underpins mobile phones, internet, satellite navigation, weather forecasting, and all wireless/telecommunications globally. Member States sign up to legally binding instruments which each country must adhere to. NZ is a member state.

Here is a link to the United Nations ITU here:
https://ccdcoe.org/organisations/itu/

Here is the link to NZ signing the United Nations treaty:
https://www.treaties.mfat.govt.nz/search/details/t/3792/960

Compliance with the United Nations ITU Treaty is managed by Radio Spectrum Management, an arm of MBIE with the NZ Government.

New Zealand is a member state of the ITU through ongoing government participation, represented by Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). [rsm.govt]

Of interest in our research New Zealand did not agree with the 2012 revision of the ITU Constitution/Convention and did not sign the Final Acts of that revision. [mbie.govt]

But with current representation (unclear what year) New Zealand's interests are represented by:
• Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) officials at ITU meetings. Participation in ITU World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC) every 4 years [rsm.govt]
• Through the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) regional forum [rsm.govt]

**How United Nations ITU Policy Becomes NZ Law**

New Zealand implements United Nations ITU policies through a streamlined "by reference" incorporation mechanism rather than requiring new legislation for every update.

**Primary Legal Mechanism**

The ITU International Radio Regulations are incorporated into New Zealand domestic legislation by reference in Schedule 1 of the Radiocommunications Act 1989. [mbie.govt]
This means:
• When the ITU updates its Radio Regulations (at the World Radiocommunications Conference, WRC), they automatically become part of NZ law through the existing Act
• No separate parliament legislation is needed for each ITU amendment [treaties. [mfat.govt]
• The Act acts as the "transmission belt" bringing international standards into domestic law.

**Without consultation with the public, before it becomes law**

The Process Flow – What Happens:
• ITU WRC Meeting - Global conference every 4 years revises ITU Radio Regulations [vhf]
• NZ Representation - Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) in MBIE represents NZ, develops positions through IMP Group and APT coordination [rsm.govt]
• Automatic Incorporation - Revised ITU Radio Regulations incorporated into NZ law by reference in Radiocommunications Act 1989 Schedule 1 [mbie.govt]
• Domestic Implementation - MBIE implements changes through licensing system when beneficial to NZ (e.g., 5G frequencies) [mbie.govt]

This mechanism implements:
• ITU-R Radio Regulations (spectrum allocation, frequency assignments) [vhf]
• Technical standards developed by ITU-T [itu]
• ITU policy on spectrum management, cybersecurity, and digital development [ccdcoe]

This “efficient” approach allows NZ to maintain international alignment with global telecommunications standards while retaining domestic flexibility to implement only beneficial changes through MBIE's administrative licensing system. [rsm.govt]

**So how does MBIE determine benefit for New Zealanders with the United Nations ITU changes to our laws ?**

**What is the Stakeholder Consultation Process ?**

MBIE uses the Radio Sector Group (RSG) as the primary mechanism to determine benefit for NZ:
• RSG is a national forum where MBIE discusses, debates, and seeks input from stakeholders on spectrum management issues [rsm.govt]
• Stakeholders include: government ministries, telecommunication service operators (including broadcasting), spectrum licensees, and other industry stakeholders [rsm.govt]
• RSG shares views on the development of NZ's radio spectrum environment, including ITU-R and APT work [rsm.govt]

We note – there is no mention of the everyday people who live in NZ being a stakeholder to this process. The government and the telecommunications providers, who profit from providing these services, are the people who determine what laws will be of “benefit” to NZ.

• Would the focus of those benefits be focussed on the “benefit” to each company’s profits ?

So, the Ratepayers Alliance went to a meeting with representatives for the Ngamotu Road residents, and Glen Avon residents, and we listened for over an hour to the very well rehearsed representative from Connexa (a new player in our Telecommunications Industry in NZ) telling us of the multiple laws which enable them to NOT have a consent application turned down, and how legislation “encourages” that the placement of these massive new towers is NOT to be in reserves and “encouraged” to be on berms outside people’s homes.

Every question asked in this meeting was met with a very well rehearsed answer of the various new laws which apply to placement of Cell Phone Towers.

**So, who is Connexa ?**

Connexa in New Zealand is owned by two global infrastructure investors: Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and La Caisse, who each hold a 50% stake, of what was previously owned by Spark. Connnexa owns the infrastructure of the towers, not the wiring or signal strength (active side) of the service delivery.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan infrastructure portfolio is part of its broader $266.3 billion investment strategy to deliver retirement security for over 343,000 members in Canada. They focus on high-quality core and core-plus infrastructure that delivers essential services to society, such as utilities, transportation, airports, power, and digital infrastructure like cell towers and data centers.

La Caisse is Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), is a Canadian global investment group, and they are active in the major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt, and have $473CAD billion in net assets. ($583 billion NZ dollars).

In Connexa’s deal history, La Caisse acquired Spark New Zealand’s 17% stake plus a 33% stake from Ontario Teachers’, and after approvals (by the overseas investment office of the NZ Government) La Caisse and Ontario Teachers’ each held 50% of Connexa.

This is a link to the NZ Stock Exchange announcement of these deals in Dec 2024.
https://www.nzx.com/announcements/443591

In this agreement, Spark has a contract with Connexa, which guarantees they are a major customer for this company. This removes a lot of risk for Connexa entering the NZ Market, as they are guaranteed an income.

**But who else is helping to make sure Connexa receives a guaranteed income ?**

The NZ government (via a government-backed fund NIFF) has awarded Connexa a contract through Spark.

Key deal details:

Contract awarded by:
National Infrastructure Fund and Financing (NIFF) — a government infrastructure fund [connexa.co]

Partner:
Spark (in partnership with Connexa) [connexa.co]

Purpose:
Enhance resilience of 295 Spark mobile cell towers across NZ by upgrading battery back-up capacity to 24 hours [connexa.co]

Impact:
Maintains mobile connectivity during power outages for up to 1.7 million addresses [connexa.co]

This is not a direct government-to-Connexa contract, but rather a contract awarded by the government's National Infrastructure Fund and Financing to Spark-Connexa jointly for infrastructure resilience work.

**What does NIFF fund ?**

Water, transport (including cycleways/public transport), community amenities, environmental resilience (flood protection), and connectivity infrastructure like the mobile tower resilience project with Connexa/Spark. [nationalinfrastructure.govt]

NIFF acts as the government's "investor shopfront" and facilitator, working with councils, developers, landowners, and private sector to assess feasibility and advance transactions. [nationalinfrastructure.govt]

**How much did Spark and Connexa get from this fund to upgrade batteries in the towers they provide commercially to customers ? **

$6.4M NZ Taxpayer funded dollars – or taxpayer paid debt.

This is a short version of an announcement from Connexa’s CEO:

Spark, in partnership with Connexa, has been awarded a contract by National Infrastructure Fund and Financing (NIFF) to enhance the resilience of 295 Spark mobile cell towers across New Zealand

Connexa CEO, Rob Berrill said “As New Zealand’s leading mobile tower infrastructure provider, we play a critical role in supporting the resilient infrastructure that underpins mobile connectivity when conditions are at their toughest. We’re proud to be partnering with Spark and NIFF on these upgrades to strengthen back-up power at key sites to 24 hours so communities can rely on mobile services for longer during extended outages.”

The increased battery capacity is co-funded by Connexa, Spark, and the Government. Of the $6.4 million allocated by the Government to this fund, $4 million has been contracted to support the upgrades for the 295 sites.

• It is not mentioned where the other $2.4 million will be spent.

This is the link to this full announcement from Connexa:
https://connexa.co.nz/news/spark-and-connexa-to-boost-mobile-cell-tower-resilience-across-new-zealand

Obviously back up batteries are an integral part of providing Cell Phone Towers - and are badly needed in an emergency situation – but the taxpayers are fronting up with money, for three major corporates, 2 whose profits leave the country to benefit pension funds overseas.

Providing batteries with a Cell Phone Tower used to be a core function of providing this service to customers. When did the taxpayers start paying for corporates to increase their profits ?

• We have to ask, who profits by people in the communities not being able to object to the expansion of global corporation’s assets across the landscape of NZ ?

• Who profits from these towers being put in the easiest most accessible place for the installation company ?

• When the overseas investments office allowed this merger of a $266 billion dollar company with a $583 billion company to deliver assets for Kiwi’s, did anyone think maybe these massive Global Corporates could have perhaps shared some of their profits back with the people where they will be seriously devaluing their properties ?

Successive NZ Governments have set up the playing field for this horrendous situation to occur for everyday New Zealanders, and we are told our government has adopted laws so everyday people CAN NOT object.

We have written this story in the hope that someone who has been involved with this industry over the years may have some idea on how we can oppose what is going on with this ? Are there any loopholes, or any aspects of these towers which are not working as they should be ?

Or are there residents from other NZ cities who have dealt with Connexa already who may see this and have some advice that can help.

Please message us, or e-mail us at [email protected]

We have 6 more of these towers coming to New Plymouth, who is going to be next ?

For people who aren’t aware of what all of the people we elect in Wellington are up to, please take on board what has been going on around this **one industry** in NZ across all of the political parties.

There is an election later this year, so people may want to seriously start thinking about which parties might unravel these types of laws being implemented in NZ.

Or people may want to start putting pressure on their MP’s to unravel these laws.

You may want to share this story with friends and family nationwide. 800 of these towers are planned across the country.

**Residents in New Plymouth asked where other similar towers have been installed. **

Using google we can see 2 towers in Hamilton. The first thing we notice with these links is they are placed by parks and among trees.
• Perhaps Hamilton is a little stricter when it comes to placing these right outside people’s homes ?
• Or perhaps the laws have changed more recently ?

Note in the bottom left corner of this link, this tower is outside a park, and behind trees.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fseABqRhRG2HsSFN7

Note in these 2 links, this tower is outside a rugby park.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LunmqScCbhQvaRQ37
https://maps.app.goo.gl/3kauv4aTcwrn5n248

Attached is a stuff story with yet another neighbourhood in Papamoa affected by Connexa installations.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/360991206/towering-worry-residents-feel-powerless-shadow-spark-towers

** A note from the Author
We have used Perplexity AI to search a lot of the information in this story. Where this information has been used, there is a link (below or on the right) with the source of that information.

We prefer using Perplexity AI as it gives more detailed information with the answers than some of the other platforms available.

George Sangster and Jill Plackett are worried they won’t be able to afford to move to a retirement home.

12/06/2026

These are the local people who have suddenly found massive Cellphone Towers are about to be built on the berms in front of their homes. Bryan Vickery visited the Glen Avon site, and 60 plus people affected from Spotswood, and Glen Avon, turned up to talk to Bryan.

We have also been doing some research about this issue and will have information to share later in the weekend.

8 of these towers are planned for New Plymouth over the coming months, so there are more neighbourhoods who will soon be finding out this is also in store for them.

11/06/2026

The submissions for the Road User Charges Legislation closes at 5pm TODAY.

The email to send submissions to is:
[email protected]

You can just send an email stating you do not support any of the changes being proposed.

Issues you may have, and may want to put in a submission, are:

• Sharing and safety of personal data with private companies.

• Who will hold and store this data and who can access it ?

• People without cellphones and apps – how do they participate and still drive ?

• Overseas this electronic travel data is being used for transport pricing related to emission reduction (higher charges by types of vehicles), climate targets, congestion charging, smart-city planning, travel demand management (reducing access to busy streets). Data collection and forcing behaviour change with driving are increasingly being linked.

• If the RUC system is only about road funding, the regulations should clearly say so and prohibit wider use.

• If any road behaviour actions are to be added to this legislation at a later time then the Government must consult with the public about making those types of changes.

• An RUC provider company must not sell or share personal data.

• The legislations should clearly state if personal data is to be shared with other government agencies’, which ones, and under what circumstances.

If people don’t send a message to the government that they don’t want what is proposed there is no pressure on the government to modify any of the proposal.

10/06/2026

We just wanted to touch base about the meeting the Cell Phone Tower resident representatives had with the installation company Connexa. One of our team was asked to attend the meeting to support the ratepayers attending. We know the residents were totally disillusioned with the meeting and we completely understand why.

But, we do want to thank our local MP, David McLeod, Mayor, Max Brough and Councillors Kerry Vosseler and Graham Chard for attending and asking questions in this meeting.

The residents at this meeting are new to dealing with our elected officials in New Plymouth, we’ve had almost 2 years doing so. It may not appear that the MP or Council people did anything at the meeting, and they definitely didn’t (and couldn’t) promise anything, but actions to follow up on for Kerry Vosseler and Graham Chard were agreed on, to check and double check if there is anything in legislation that can help the residents.

Kerry Vosseler has also been instrumental in getting one of the resource consents from Connexa put on hold while this situation is investigated.

These actions would not have happened a year ago – 4 people in that meeting room on Tuesday were trying to find ways they may be able to help.

Max Brough pointed out, when questions were asked about the district plan – that the Central Government has put district plans into a “stop” status across the country until the new Resource Management Act has been finalised. Councils across the country are not able to make any changes to their district plans at this time. So even if the NPDC could find a way to make a change in the district plan to help residents, they can’t implement anything.

Moving one of the towers a few metres around the corner was discussed, and definitely not a preferred option being looked for by the home owners, but the council are going to look in to legislation more closely to see if anything can be done for either of the properties.

Connexa undertook to provide more information about the Cell Phone Tower maps to both sets of residents.

The Alliance are also exploring a couple of options, in case they are relevant.

We have looked into the situation surrounding the Company Connexa, who we all met with, and legislation around Cell Phone Towers, and we have a story coming out in the next few days bringing people up to speed about what is happening in NZ around this issue.

People from both Spotswood and Glen Avon are meeting outside 2 Handley Place in Glen Avon at 4pm today (Thursday 11th June) with Bryan Vickery covering their story through his page.

Anybody who would like to support these residents is welcome to attend.

10/06/2026

A number of our supporters may be TSB customers here in New Plymouth and may want to participate in this petition, if they haven't already seen it.

The link is here:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-our-bank/

The online petition quotes Heartland Bank's CEO saying it's important for Heartland to hear the views of the public, given how embedded TSB is in the community; "We would not want to proceed with a transaction where there was negative reaction or sentiment."

Cr Brown writes "So let's send them a message, the people of Taranaki want to keep their bank."

What do you think about the petition? Will you be signing?

08/06/2026

We just want to say a really big thank you to all the people who have got behind the Spotswood and Glen Avon neighbourhoods affected by the new Cellphone Towers.

The community has been amazing and very supportive.

We just wanted to let people know we have had over 27,500 visitors to our page with both stories, and over 4,000 visitors to our website.

We only have 37,500 ratepayers in New Plymouth so this is a significant number of people getting behind our community.

We understand the Connexa company is visiting New Plymouth today for a meeting with people from these neignbourhoods.

We truly hope there will be serious conversations about getting these towers moved away from residential homes.

The poll about this situation is still open, if you would like to vote, here:

What is your opinion? Vote now: Yes, I agree with these 15 meter Towers being installed on residential streets, because the cellphone coverage is needed., No, I don’t agree with thes