John MacDonald: Here's why ECAN speedster needs to hit the road

ECAN regional council chair Peter Scott has to go. 

You’ll remember the fuss earlier this year when he admitted to Newstalk ZB that he’d been farming illegally on his South Canterbury property without the appropriate consents. 

And how, after that blunder, he disappeared for a while - ECAN spent $66,000 on a 10-week investigation - and then he was back again. All G. 

Well, not “all G” actually, because it’s now been revealed that he’s been hooning it in the car the council - or ratepayers - provide him as part of the job. 

And I actually think this is way-worse than the consenting bungle he confessed to. 

So how about this? Since January, Peter Scott has broken the speed limit in his regional council ratepayer-funded vehicle 678 times - at speeds of up to 157 kph.  

I’ve done the numbers and this equates to at least 75 times a month, or twice-a-day, seven days a week. 

Now these aren’t infringements. From what’s been reported so far about this, it’s unclear whether any of these did result in Peter Scott getting tickets. 

But I think it's safe to assume that, because he was still using the vehicle up until the end of last week - when he handed it back - I think it’s safe to assume that he didn’t get any speeding tickets. 

But he gave it a good go. Breaking the speed limit at least twice-a–day, seven days a week since January this year. 

These were all recorded on the GPS system ECAN has on all its vehicles so it can make sure people who use their vehicles aren’t speeding. 

And, as far as I’m concerned, he has to go. For two reasons. 

First reason: can you imagine any staff member getting away with this level of speeding in an ECAN vehicle? 

They wouldn’t. But, as long as Peter Scott remains chairman and a councillor, anyone working for ECAN has every right to tell their bosses to sod off if they try to take them to task for breaking the speed limit in a council vehicle. 

The other reason Peter Scott has to go, is that he isn’t just the chair of ECAN - he’s also the chair of the Canterbury Regional Transport Committee. 

And this is where things really start to drip with hypocrisy. Because, if you thought it was hypocritical enough for the chair of the regional council to be farming without the proper consents, get a load of this. 

The Canterbury Regional Transport Committee is an entity that involves all councils in the Canterbury region - including ECAN - and NZTA. And the number one job of the regional transport committee is to implement the Canterbury Regional Transport Plan. 

So Peter Scott is in charge of that committee. And that committee has to make sure that all the councils and NZTA are singing from the same song sheet when it comes to transport and roads. 

Now this plan has three key objectives. One of them, which is particularly relevant to Peter Scott speeding in his council car, is to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Canterbury roads by 40 percent by 2031. 

Previously, Peter Scott - who chairs this committee - has said: "Canterbury embraces the Government's moves to reduce the road toll.” 

This is the guy who, since January this year, broke the speed limit in his regional council ratepayer-funded vehicle 678 times, at speeds of up to 157 kph. 

This guy, who chairs the regional transport committee which says “poor decision-making by drivers is leading to deaths and serious injuries on our transport network", is a complete hypocrite when it comes to road safety.. 

He’s the guy who has overall responsibility for implementing a plan to reduce deaths and serious injuries on C

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's Podcast with John McDonald
from Newstalks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
There's no other way to say it. He can Regional
Council Chair Peter Scott, he has to go.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Now.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
You'll remember the fars earlier this year when he admitted
to Newstalks EDB that he'd been farming illegally on his
South Canterbury property without the appropriate consents and how after
that blunder and he disappeared for a while, didn't he
He can spend sixty six thousand bucks on a ten
week investigation, then he was back again. It was all
g all g well, not all good actually, because it's

(00:47):
now been revealed that he's been honing it in the
car that the council, or should I say ratepayers provide
for him as part of the job. And I actually
think that this is way worse than the consenting bungle
that he confessed to Heather about back in April. I'll
tell you why. So how about this. Here are the

(01:09):
numbers since January he can Chair Peter Scott has broken
the speed limit in his Regional Council ratepayer funded vehicle
six hundred and seventy eight times since January. It speeds
up to one hundred and fifty seven CA's per hour.
Now I've done the numbers. These were recorded on the

(01:30):
GPS system. It's not known whether any any or all
of these or part of them received you got tickets
for It's not known, but these are the facts. He
broke the speed limit six hundred and seventy eight times
since January. It speeds of up to one hundred and
fifty seven CA's per hour. And I've done the numbers.
This equates to at least seventy five times a month,

(01:53):
or twice a day, seven days a week. So, as
I say, it's unclear whether you've got any tickets. So
these aren't infringements. These are recordings on the GPS system
that he can use on all of its vehicles. But
I think it's safe to assume that because he was
still using the vehicle up until the end of last
week when he handed it back, I think it's probably

(02:13):
safe to assume that he didn't get any speeding tickets.
But I'll tell you what. He gave it a good go,
breaking the speed limit at least twice a day, seven
days a week since January this year. And as I say,
it's all recorded on GPS and the guy right at
the top of the organization has been busted, and as

(02:35):
far as I'm concerned, he has to go. And there
are two reasons for that. First reason, can you imagine
any staff member at he CAN getting away with this
level of speeding in an ECAN vehicle, Well they wouldn't.
They wouldn't. But as long as Peter Scott remains chairman,
and as long as he remains a counselor anyone working
at ECN, they've got every right to tell their bosses
to sod off if they try to take them to

(02:57):
task for breaking the speed limit in a council vehicle,
or maybe they can do it until the council GPS
system catches them speeding six hundred and seventy nine times,
one more than Peter Scott. If they get busted more
than him, then I'll have to tow the loan. Until
then they won't. The other reason Peter Scott has to
go is that he isn't just the chair of e
CAN He's also the chair of the Canterbury Regional Transport Committee.

(03:21):
Now don't start yawning, because this is actually this is
the worst. But I reckon. It's where it really starts
to drip with hypocrisy, because if you thought it was
hypocritical enough for the chair of the Regional Council to
be farming without the proper consents, we'll get a load
of this. The Canterbury Regional Transport Committee is an entity
that involves all councils in the Canterbury region, including ECAN

(03:43):
and NZTA, and the number one job of the Regional
Transport Committee is to implement the Canterbury Regional Transport Plan.
So Peter Scott is in charge of that committee and
that committee has to make sure that all the councils
and NZTA are singing from the same song sheet when
it comes to transport in Rhodes. And this plan has

(04:04):
three key objectives and one of them, which is particularly
relevant to Peter Scott speeding in his council car, is
to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Canterbury roads by
forty percent by twenty thirty one. And previously Peter Scott,
who chairs this committee, has said, quote Canterbury embraces the
government's moves to reduce the road toll end of quote.

(04:28):
This is the guy who since January this year has
broken the speed limit and his Regional Council ratepayer funded
vehicle six hundred and seventy at times at speeds of
up to one hundred and fifty seven case per hour.
This is the guy who, despite the big plans signed
off by the committee that he chairs, which says, by
the way, quite poor decision making by drivers is leading

(04:49):
to deaths and serious injuries on our transport network. Despite
all that, he's the guy who was shown he's a
complete hypocrite when it comes to road safety. He's the
guy who has overall responsibility for implementing a plan to
reduce deaths and serious injuries on Canterbury Odes by forty
percent over the next seven years. Yet when it comes

(05:11):
to his own driving, he's actually part of the problem
that his committee is trying to fix. It says it
explicitly in its own plan. It says, quote road safety
issues in Canterbury include inappropriate speeds on urban and rural
roads end of quote. And for me, this is the
major reason why Peter Scott has to go. In my opinion,

(05:33):
he's a hypocrite and his goose should be cooked.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
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