Letters to the editor: Plastic wrapping and Greerton roundabout roadworks

Was the extra plastic wrapping on a ham hock really necessary, asks a reader. Photo / Supplied

Plastic, not so fantastic

Let's get rid of plastic.
The other day we bought a reduced-price ham hock from our local supermarket.
When we got it home it was found to have been vacuum packed by Hellers but when it was price reduced, instead of the new price sticker being adhered to it, the whole hock was put in a polystyrene black tray, then double wrapped in adhesive clear plastic as the photograph shows.
Why, when the original packaging was hygienic and packaged with the minimum amount of non-degradable material, was it necessary to re-wrap at all?
Let alone with such a large quantity of such material.

AD Kirby
Papamoa

Road works in Greerton. Photo / John Borren

Roadworks questioned

Today I noticed a Higgins excavator driver lifting pavement at the Greerton roundabout renovation. He gently handled that excavator's bucket with the dexterity of a surgeon's scalpel.
However, to me, the driver's efforts seem futile as he seems part of an effort to transfer a four-lane road into a two-lane road to seemingly make a traffic bottleneck.
Yes, there needs to be a light-controlled pedestrian crossing that is being installed but the other so-called improvements seem regressive for traffic flow.
It would be appreciated to have feedback from the council's engineering department head of works on what justification he or she has for making such changes at ratepayers expense as many local people I have spoken to are perplexed at why this civil work is occurring.

Ian Davies
Tauranga