The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters and comments from readers. Below you can read the letters we have published in your newspaper today.
THIS WEEKEND'S LETTERS:
End pitbull terror now
Let's hope the significant increase in spraying including helicopter aerial spraying is balanced by better compliance, signage and increased notification to neighbours"I have very strong views that pitbull terriers and other similar types are a danger to society.
When is the government going to wake up and ban these breeds as other countries have?
These animals are killing machines and whilst I am not anti-hunting and am a dog lover, we should not compromise the safety of adults, children and other pets.
How many more incidents need to occur before action is taken?
MARTIN ROWLEY, Tauranga
Spray with care
Exploding watermelons at first sounded like a name for a new-wave band when I first heard about them going off in China.
However the laughter soon stopped when I realised why they were exploding and the agrichemical sprayed on them to make them ripen quicker in China is the same one being used on kiwifruit in the United States.
While I understand the need to spray agrichemicals such as Hicane to help kiwifruit ripen or bud burst quicker it still leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth about the short-term and long-term effects on both the land and we who live on it.
And now with the battle to contain the PSA virus, the spraying is going to increase significantly according to John Bourke, the General Manager of Kiwifruit Vine Health, who claimed "an all out assault" is required on PSA.
Yes the economic benefits of Kiwifruit are substantial and should be protected but then again so should the lungs of the land and the people who live on it.
Let's hope the significant increase in spraying, including helicopter aerial spraying, is balanced by better compliance, signage and increased notification to neighbours.
T KAPAI, Te Puna
Not the Titanic
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state over the cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind and we can't even clean up after the Christchurch earthquake. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."
You've got to be kidding. This is New Zealand not the damned Titanic.
Throw the bums out. I hardly recognise this country anymore.
This government responds to record deficits by passing huge tax cuts for the wealthy and all the press is doing is waving pom poms instead of asking the hard questions.
We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.
And don't tell me it's all the fault of the left wing, right wing, centre-wing parties or USA etc. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and its part of the reason we are in such a mess.
We're a people and we rise and fall together.
This was re-written for NZ from Lee Iacocca's latest book Where Have All The Leaders Gone?
FRED STEWART, Papamoa
Foreshore fears
So our worse fears are becoming reality, in regards to the Foreshore and Seabed Act.
No New Zealander would be denied access to our public beaches we were told by the Government. Now it seems that a number of iwi are making claims to customary title, and as the Government now concedes, iwi will be able to limit or stop access to public beaches.
Not only that, the Government is committing economic suicide by giving away precious resources that could benefit all New Zealanders and the economy but will now only benefit a select few.
The government isn't supporting unity in this country, it's fuelling separatism, and racism, by treating Maori as superior rather than as equals.
All New Zealanders should be treated equally regardless of race, which means all New Zealanders should have access to all public beaches, and that all resources should benefit everyone and not a select few.
M WILSON, Tauranga
Great massage
Re your article about Marama Massage (Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, May 21).
I was given a Grab One voucher in January. I rang Amy Campbell and got her answer machine.
She got back to me promptly. I booked, had one of the best massages I have ever had.
This article only shows an extreme viewpoint and in fact I think it is quite misleading. I can sincerely say that Amy was professional in every sense.
Not only was she professional but she is an excellent masseuse.
BARBARA MOYLE, Pyes Pa
Hot topic
Your article on the Mount Hot Pools is an eye-opener (News, May 25). As I understand it, Mr Akroyd has for some time raised issues with TCAL over water temperatures at the Mount Hot Pools. It seems he had arranged a meeting at the hot pools with interested parties including TCAL for Sunday. Suddenly out of left-field comes a TCAL-sponsored meeting for interested customers, scheduled for last evening and this morning at Baywave, of all places.
I am an interested customer, I hold a concession card and yet on Tuesday when I was at the hot pools, no mention was made about nor was there notice of these meetings.
Apparently, notices were posted on Wednesday. Four people attended the Wednesday meeting plus three TCAL reps. Clearly the TCAL meetings were to upstage Mr Akroyd's meeting at the hot pools and the public has to seriously question what is happening with this cash-strapped, ratepayer-funded outfit.
Had Mount Hot Pools made any surpluses, which I seriously doubt, then if those had been applied toward the maintenance of the hot pools over the past few years we would not be facing any maintenance issues but on the other side of the coin, TCAL would have something between $3 and $5 million more debt. Food for thought and what more does anyone know?
(Abridged)R PATERSONMatapihi
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