Letters: Expert needed to review 15th Ave upgrade

15th Ave upgrades need to be managed carefully, says a reader. Photo / File

It is nice to read the roading upgrade at 15th Ave and Fraser St is going ahead (News, August 7).

This is an important piece of work, urgently required to allow safe movement of traffic through a key arterial corridor.

Now, Tauranga City Council, do us all a favour.

Before you unpack the spades, and lay out the orange cones in 15th Ave, please hire an expert in urban road/traffic planning (not to be a person currently associated with council) to spend a week reviewing the proposed concept, planning, and current conclusions, followed by an expert report, in plain English, and any suggested variations.

Budget: $10,000 plus costs, GST.

Their expert review could save us all a great deal of cash. (Abridged)

Russell McKenzie
Pāpāmoa

Fair governance

As a councillor, Margaret Murray-Benge (Letters, August 8) is required to act fairly in partnership with the Māori community.

That means that at times, race-based fairness may be appropriate.

Ms Murray-Benge says that equality is the cornerstone of democracy, but it is more true that fairness is the cornerstone of democracy.

People want to be governed fairly. Political equality is just a path to fairness, not an end in itself, and it should not ignore fairness to minorities. Governments worldwide now accept this.

Ms Murray-Benge says that ratepayer money should not be used as a panacea for society's ills. Justice for Māori is not an illness.

Local Māori had about $500 million of land stolen and have received about $50 million in redress.

It seems reasonable to use rates from stolen Māori land for redress where appropriate.

Justice is not a handout. In my view, Ms Murray-Benge's campaign for a political equality that denies race based differences is a denial of fairness to Māori. (Abridged)

Peter Dey
Welcome Bay

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