Letters to the editor

Put amalgamation study on agenda
Discussion around the need for local government reform for the Hawke's Bay region causes many ratepayers to ask what is wrong with what we have now, now is not the time to change, and we like things the way they are.
However, the national economic statistics that are reported on regularly in Hawke's Bay Today clearly show our region is quickly falling behind the national average for job and wage growth, our unemployment rate is increasing, especially among our young, and our province's general economic performance is lacklustre.
It also shows that the smugness we have for living and working in a region which seemingly has it all may be short-lived.
What better time is there for all the local body councils to demonstrate the leadership and vision required to at least support an independent study into the amalgamation of local government in Hawke's Bay?
The region's ratepayers could then make an informed decision as to the best governance structure in any future referendum.
Our region has changed dramatically in the past 12 years since this issue was previously debated and clearly things aren't all right the way they are.
Our children and grandchildren who wish to remain to live and work in this undeniably blessed region will thank us for it.
Robert Pattullo, Puketapu
Drinks spell trouble
I feel for Ruth Aitken and her family, and admire her for fronting up immediately that the young man involved in disgusting behaviour on a flight from overseas was her son. Those of us who have brought up a family, can relate to the irresponsible behaviour they can sometimes get up to when in a group.
She, of all people, knows the responsibility of travelling the world with a sports team, and how their behaviour reflects on the whole team, the management, their families and their country.
One presumes that these young men were sober when they boarded the plane, so why are they allowed to consume so much alcohol that they are not only a nuisance but a danger to other passengers?
Passengers who are so drunk that they don't know what they are doing can cause mayhem in a plane crammed full of several hundred people.
I have often wondered why airline staff are so willing to supply people with free drinks, and have had experience of sitting next to a couple who between them drank about 10 free bottles of wine on a flight from Melbourne to Wellington.
And I'm sure many of us have been annoyed by passengers who, after a few drinks, become noisy and talkative when others are trying to sleep on long-haul flights.
I have always thought that one free drink with a meal is all one should be allowed, and after that you pay for them. Even so, it is up to cabin crew to limit the number people have, for everyone's safety and comfort.
I'm sure Ruth would agree that team management, too, must take some responsibility in monitoring the behaviour of their young charges.
This young man has probably learned a lesson from the shame and embarrassment of his behaviour, but I believe that airlines should do more to stop such incidents happening.
Betty Smith, Napier
Ed's note: There was no indication in earlier reports that Jetstar staff had been serving Mr Aitken alcohol.
Principal upset
I need to express my disappointment in the way the "Teacher busted growing dope" story was reported in Monday's Hawke's Bay Today.
The lack of information in your story, though I presume unintended, has reflected poorly on Otane School.
Ms Pekapo's actions and poor judgment was made clear, as was her place of residence, Otane.
The problem I have lies in your initial statement "An Otane teacher ..." This should have been supported by relevant facts about Ms Pekapo's place of employment.
By including this simple fact in your story you could have prevented any misunderstanding that some of your readers had about our school.
For the record, I would like to make clear that Ms Pekapo is not a teacher at Otane School.
Please report with more clarity your news stories so others in the community are not unfairly misrepresented.
Dwayne Hapuku, Principal, Otane School

More than Deco
Sally Jackson quotes (Hawke's Bay Today, June 17) a "gross revenue impact of $23 million" from Art Deco tourism in 2006.
Has there been a survey undertaken where all parties involved have revealed this to be the actual profit the city would not have made without Art Deco tourism? Or is it one of these mathematical functions consultants employ where a tourist spends $20 in a shop, the shop uses that $20 to pay their power bill, the power company uses that $20 to pay their rates, the council uses that $20 to buy an invoice book from a stationary store and so it goes on until they reach a suitably large sum involving that single $20 note spent by one tourist?
Napier has sustained itself without Art Deco tourism and it will, undoubtedly, do so again at some stage.
Tourists may experience the city and all the Deco-ness and proposed quirks for a day or two, providing Napier with that "gross revenue impact of $23 million", but it is Napier's 58,000-plus residents who have to live with the results year round and ultimately pay the bills for them, contributing upwards of $45 million each year to the city in rates alone, never mind the untold millions that exchange hands in transactions throughout the city every day.
Do your average Ahuriri residents really care if they commute to and from the central city in a regular bus or a million-dollar museum piece?
Did anyone on the Napier City Council ask? Because they didn't ask their own parking wardens about their proposed wardrobe change - one of them told me so.
Finally, saying that I or anyone who simply expresses an opinion that doesn't follow the strict Art Deco party line held by a few is berating or trying to undermine Napier is utterly laughable.
I love this city too much to not express my frustration in a public forum when I see the continual, narrow-sighted branding others have saddled Napier with over the past decades.
It has resulted in outsiders - and I have heard this from people in Hastings - saying: "Napier? It's just Art Deco, isn't it?"
No. It's so much more. It's the wonderful people. It's the stunning weather. It's walking over Napier Hill admiring the old homes and views. It's wandering along Marine Parade beside a stunningly blue, sparkly Hawke Bay eating an icecream. It's the roar of the crowd at McLean Park. It's fish and chips on Hardinge Rd, or a beer amid the fishing boats in Ahuriri. It's all the top-class restaurants and cafes.
Napier is so much more than just a style of architecture.
Andrew Frame, Napier