The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters and comments from readers. Below you can read the letters we have published in your newspaper today.
TODAY'S LETTERS
Pay for high standard of living on our own steam
We have seen that a large number of families in Christchurch have been recently experiencing lack of power, water and sewerage.
We in the Bay of Plenty are counting our blessings that we do not have to go through this, let alone the individual sufferings such as casualties.
We need to remind ourselves that most of the rest of the world does not have any of these items which we now call necessities, particularly the sewerage reticulation.
Further, we have now flown in thousands of Portaloos/chemical toilets in from China for temporary relief of that suffering. That same rest of the world would not have such a degree of luxury on a permanent basis.
My point is that if we New Zealanders want to continue with our high standard of living, then we must earn our way in the world in order to fund it.
New Zealand has continually spent more than it has earned. We therefore must give continued and constant support to all those industries and services which earn our export dollars.
We owe it to future New Zealanders to reverse our downward economic trend.
(Abridged.)
BILL CAPAMAGIAN, Tauranga
School crossings
Re: Ignorant drivers should be punished (Our View, April 8).
Rather than the council "looking into it", they should spend the money they plan to waste on appealing the hot pools decision and get a lights-controlled crossing put in now.
It's obvious that you can't trust Tauranga drivers to drive responsibly so every school, in my opinion, should have these installed before another child dies.
ADRIAN HUTCHINSON, Pyes Pa
Lights solution
Re: Ignorant drivers should be punished (Our View, April 8).
Firstly, I don't even understand the impatience. However, as this is obviously an issue, can the council not install a traffic light crossing as they have done in several other locations around the city, such as the lower end of 15th Ave and outside Tauranga Primary School at Cameron Rd?
Seems like the perfect solution to me.
JEN DURHAM, Tauranga
Hit bullies back
As bullying seems to be in the news lately, it might be interesting to some that I was unmercifully bullied while at a boarding school in the United Kingdom.
Most of it happened in a dormitory at night. I didn't complain. The "no sneaking" rule applied.
Myself and a boy called Page decided we'd both had enough.
Although we were smaller than the chief bully we attacked him, one from the front and one from behind, thrashed him into the ground, and had no more trouble.
My daughter was also bullied by a boy. When I told her to stand up to him she said, "I can't, he always attacks me from behind."
She had two pigtails and he cut one off. Stamped on her feet, ruining her nylons. So we had a training session.
I came behind her and taught her to swing her fist backwards. She went back to school and bust his nose open, and that was the end of that. Only the principal was angry and said I should have come to him about it. I said to him, "What would you have done, talked to him?"
Caning should never have been banned. Done properly, the offence and punishment would be recorded in a book and carried out in the principal's study.
Bullies are cowards and can't stand being hurt.
(Abridged.)
R. B. WYLD, Tauranga
Local politics
The more than half of us who don't bother to exercise our right to vote in local government elections should wake up to realising the importance of local politics to our quality of life.
Tauranga City Council is responsible for striking a balance between the developers - with their stack-'em-high and cram-'em-in highrise projects wherever there's a chink of sea view to exploit along our splendid coast - and the wild greens who might prefer the low-rise, higgledy-piggledy coastal development of yesteryear. It is not easy.
Full marks to council for responding to "huge public concern" about high-rise development between Pilot Bay and Marine Pde, as revealed in latest changes to their town plan (News, March 31).
Full marks also to the BOP Times for conscientious coverage of the public campaign leading to these changes, and for acknowledgement of the role of Jill Parry and her Sandy Walkers group to this end.
(Abridged.)
COLIN MARSHALL, Te Puke
Text Views
* Re.gaggle gays. I would sugest most kiwis tolerate gays. But in no way should vey, as a minority impact on n.z. Policy or our social direction
* Mr randell. You get security staff to search all your students at collage balls, but you wont do it yourself. Because of assault charges. But its ok for us security staff to take the risk.
* Whatever happened to the mayors comment on having OPEN MEETINGS and them having secret ones over matters like the hot pools. But them he is inconsistent often.
* Have done Otumoetai Rd crossing - Otu Prim - speed often excessive + inclination to stop is minimal. It would seem a crossing's an inconvenience to many. Some choose to forget that they must actually stop + let people ova crossing. Safety for our kids???
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