Letters to the editor. Photo / Unsplash
Have your say on councils’ plans
Tararua District and Horizons councils have their plans out for submissions. Have your say! I hope many can recommend that councils adopt a wind turbine to residences separation distance of at least 1.5km the same as Palmerston North.
The alternative is having Meridian trying to put 20 big turbines in our front yards south of Eketāhuna.
John Maxwell
Eketāhuna
‘Potholes on the road I travel’
Tararua District councillor Sharon Wards encourages residents to share their visions for Tararua 20 years on and metaphorically “plant trees that represent facilities, assets, and services our children and mokopuna will thank us for”.
The councillor talks about the future “rationalisation of our assets”. I suspect that’s newspeak for the privatisation of community property.
Thirty-four years ago the then Labour Government decided to collectivise small communities into large corporate entities, suggesting amalgamations would create “economies of scale” and the disposal of redundant community assets would help fund future development.
Ten years old, Dannevirke’s water supply dam has passed its use-by date and is in dire need of a multimillion-dollar rebuild.
Three years young, Pahīatua’s state-of-the-art water treatment plant has malfunctioned and residents have been told to turn off their taps until the “water supply issues have been resolved”. Summer water restrictions have arrived.
The councillor suggests residents think beyond the mundane needs of basic infrastructure and imagine a social utopia where all enjoy benefits associated with forward planning as we ride down the Yellow Brick Road of prosperity.
“Rationalisation of assets” and water sustainability are potholes on the road I travel.
Mark Wahlberg
Pahīatua
Opinion: 'For nigh on 50 years nothing has been done to protect the ranges from erosion.'