Letters to the editor

Amalgamation won't help Bay
I take issue with MP Craig Foss' contention in Saturday's paper that the reason the region didn't win the national velodrome tender was because of "the Bay's disjointed leadership" and "a lack of the region working together", therefore directly implying that we would have won with an amalgamated council.
This is utter rubbish.
I have always contended that we need regulatory consistency across the region but we do not need council amalgamation.
The predominant issues faced by Hawke's Bay are economic, not governance.
Our councils already work closely together on the major issues affecting the region and there is no way the people of Napier would be better off under one council where our representatives are in the minority.
Changing the region's governance model will not lead to more jobs, greater wealth or better opportunities for our people and our province, which are the major issues we should be focusing on.
I have investigated the few examples of the benefits put forward by amalgamation proponents, MPs Chris Tremain and Craig Foss and Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule, and none stack up under closer scrutiny.
To use examples of organisations that operate successfully across Hawke's Bay as a reason for council amalgamation is disingenuous.
Using this logic, we should do away with councils altogether because Telecom, the All Blacks and Victoria University successfully operate nationally.
The bottom line is that regional amalgamation at the governance level simply does not make sense from a community well-being or economic growth perspective.
Perhaps this is why, after asking for the past two years, no one has been able to give me a plan or business case on how amalgamation will benefit the people of Napier.
I suspect the reason is because it won't.
STUART NASH MP, Napier
$50m Cup shortfall
The Rugby World Cup bosses advised that there are still 500,000 tickets to be sold.
The tickets would be more than $100 each, which means that the cup is short by $50 million.
May I suggest that the rush for tickets in the past months would have come from the 40 per cent of the population on higher incomes.
The 60 per cent of low incomes will have to budget very carefully before committing themselves to buying tickets. Many would have to travel to the venues and possibly stay for overnight accommodation, which is expensive as many motels have doubled their prices for the Cup.
I think that the New Zealand host nation gets the sale of the tickets as their share of the income, while the overseas get all else including the extremely valuable TV rights.
If the 500,000 tickets are not sold, the loss on the Cup will fall back on the National Government.
PETE CARVER, Havelock North