Pick up your game, Hawke's Bay.
ERNEST SEADON, Napier
Westshore erosion
I have been reading a few of the letters in your paper regarding erosion at Westshore Beach.
I found this photo taken at the beach in 1978.
The colour is not great because of the film in the'70s not being very good, ( I don't think the sand was really that colour) but you can clearly see "the way it was" as far as the beach was concerned.
What a shame we don't have it any more.
DIANNE HANSEN, Taradale
Golden arches okay
It seems the power of the press is still very much alive and well in Hawke's Bay.
Thanks to Lawrence Gullery for creating an interesting debate by putting the Havelock North Business Associations (HNBA) submission in the same article as McDonald's submission (Wednesday, December 14).
I have thought over the past week it would be amazing if we could get so energetic about world peace we might have a chance, if we could harness some of the energy people have expended on the total evilness of a voluntary organisation of business owners trying to do the best for the place they live and work in. It's amazing that people can become almost vitriolic on paper against strangers when all the writer might possibly know about a subject is a couple of lines read in the paper! All very interesting.
The conversation about McDonald's which the HNBA was involved in was at least 18 months ago.
The land was bought and the deal was done. We informed members with as much information as we had, including some which McDonald's head office had provided to us. At no time was the HNBA ever against McDonald's opening in the village as we understood the horse had bolted because the gate was left open, so no amount of screaming and chest beating was going to change it.
We are very much looking forward to Marcus and Lynnette, the owners, joining our association.
We did learn something though - that the District Plan needed some looking at if we didn't want a Red Shed Warehouse in the village - please don't write in if you do want a Warehouse in the village because I can assure you most thinking people do not - this is not an upper middle class theory, it's just old fashioned common sense.
So I shall attempt to get everything back into perspective.
1. The Village Framework has been coming together since 2008. Go to the Hastings District Council website to get all the details www.hastingsdc.govt.nz - be prepared to lose the will to live.
2. Havelock North Business Association put in a written submission to the next hearing of the Village Framework maybe six months ago, following extensive emails to members to keep everyone in the loop and public meetings organised with Hastings District Council so everyone who could possibly be interested could have the opportunity to find out what it was all about.
3. As is the democratic process regarding new rules under the district plan, HNBA were invited to speak to our submission, which we accepted - on December 12 at the council chambers. Following a couple of years of fact finding and consultation, our submission was around an assurance that big box retail would find it difficult to open in Havelock North - key words being "would find it difficult" which does not mean impossible because it seems that is sort of impossible to put in place. I was asked by the chair of the hearings committee regarding food outlets within the Employment Zone. I believed that the association and its members would not be sympathetic to national fast food outlets but we would seek feedback from our members and anyone else who might be interested - which translated into the paper as "did not want big box retailers or large fast food outlets in the village".
4. The McDonald's head office property people were there on another matter - to object to the new zoning.
McDonald's are in the business of property acquisition and rentals, so to guard their investment they were looking to make a submission to change the proposed Village Framework. They have a department of people watching every council in the country and any changes that "may" or "may not" affect them in the future.
So hopefully I have clarified the position of the HNBA. However, anyone is free to contact the association at info@havelocknorth.co.nz.
ADRIENNE PIERCE, HNBA president
Fracking fracas
On ZB radio station this week, I heard an American man talking about fracking in Hawke's Bay by an American company looking for oil and gas. This apparently is to start in 2012.
He said the water will be ruined and you will be unable to use it in cooking, also when showering you'd need to have a fan on to get rid of the smell of benzene.
Wow, I thought, what is our Government thinking about money?
Stuart Nash our Labour list MP, had a page on it on October 12. What a shame he's not still with us, as he has the right idea.
Even the Labour Party will miss out not having a young man that thinks of the people and not his pocket.
Both National MPs Tremain and Foss are in favour of it in HB.
Maybe the earthquakes and so-called natural disasters are caused by man's greed to get what they can from our environment.
As reported in a news article, fracking is banned entirely in France, South Africa, Quebec and parts of Australia - so why ruin our little country for more oil and gas, especially Hawke's Bay and further north?
Maybe there would be no more fishing allowed in the Bay either, so what would our men do?
VAL KING, Clive
Top performance Re: Messiah performance.
What a fantastic musical experience the capacity audience enjoyed on Sunday afternoon while listening to Handel's Messiah in St John's Cathedral. The soloists, the orchestra, the Napier Civic Choir and the conductor were all superb. Jose Aparicio, who trained and conducted the whole oratorio group, showed sheer brilliance in demonstrating his vast professional music skills, and the 85 choristers responded magnificently to his amazing interpretation.
After the amazing performance of Haydn's The Creation, this outstanding event sets a very high mark for Napier Civic Choir's future programmes.
Seats for future concerts will be keenly sought after.
BRUCE McLEOD, Napier
