Totangi Rd at Ngatapa . . . Lance Stopford says this kind of neglect was never tolerated when Cook County Council was responsible for the district's western rural roading network.
OPINION
Grey St changes a winner
I’d like to congratulate the Gisborne District Council and Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust for the work on Grey St.
I’ve read a lot of complaints, seen the idiots protesting about the changes and wondered what all the fuss is about.
It’s awesome having at least one street in the city that cars and trucks don’t dominate - a street that links the CBD to the beach, and a street where kids and others using active transport options are prioritised.
Well done. I hope it gets a national urban design award, but it’s a winner regardless.
Manu Caddie
Road situation deteriorating
Re: Totangi Rd in appalling state, July 19 letter.
I know from personal experience that this kind of neglect was never tolerated when Cook County Council was responsible for maintaining our district’s roading network.
The main difference back then was CCC’s maintenance people were hands-on and not reliant on computers and academic degrees. Experience was their teacher.
Granted, Tairāwhiti has had more than its fair share of severe weather in recent times, but the inability of GDC to manage our network has exacerbated the issue. Even simple potholes in town appear to have overwhelmed the GDC roading team – or perhaps they just don’t care. It does appear that they have time on their hands to manage unnecessary street beautification projects, however.
The situation in Tairāwhiti is deteriorating, with roading infrastructure failing faster than it can be repaired, along with funding, which is likely failing just as quickly.
Maybe, if the job is too big for our council, it is time for the Government to appoint statutory managers.
Lance Stopford
Time for strict controls?
Re: Second robbery of a city dairy this month.
Time to control how the substances that drive this problem are distributed. Australia is bringing in strict vape controls. NZ needs to watch and see if we can learn.
Would removing tobacco and vape sales from dairies and similar outlets help reduce this behaviour?
Alistar McKellow
No benefit since 1994
Re: MP says emissions plan will meet goals (TGH, July 19) is based on a false premise. No one can disagree with the fact that there are millions of tonnes of pinus radiata to be harvested. It is incorrect, however, to say the money produced benefits the community via the offices of Trust Tairāwhiti.
The beneficiaries of the trust are the householders and ratepayers of the Gisborne District Council and those connected to the electricity supply. No household has had a benefit since the trust was formed in 1993, except for the second year - 1994 - when all households were paid a “dividend”.
Winston Moreton
Coral situation complex
Iain Boyle should live by his own advice (July 18 letter re Great Barrier Reef). After being “reliably told by locals that the coral had been undergoing a teenage growth spurt in recent times”, he concludes with “we should not always believe what we read or are told”.
The Great Barrier Reef is 348,700sq km. As a tourist paying to see pristine coral, he saw perhaps less than half a square kilometre.
Coral bleaching is a complex issue and, yes, some areas appear to be recovering. However, it is far too early to state recovery is widespread and permanent. There are many factors at play, not the least of which is water temperature.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science sums up the situation: “The Great Barrier Reef is not dead. Nor is it in good health. The truth is complex. To understand what’s going on takes more than a headline . . . Some reefs have recovered strongly, some very little. Some reefs are recovering with less Acropora than before, some with more. Each reef is charting its own course on the journey from impact to recovery and back again.”
After paying for a family trip to see the splendour of the reef, why was he surprised? Did he expect to be shown dead coral?
Like the anonymous Nasa employee who “reliably told him” that the science around anthropogenic climate change is false, Iain Boyle rather foolishly believed what he was told.
He didn’t rely on the established science. He heard what he wanted to hear, and accepted it as the truth.
Ian Findlay
Recovery continues
Findlay, you need to qualify your misleading and cherry-picked quotes when attempting to defame others, otherwise your attempts look rather futile.
From 21/22 Australian Institute of Marine Science report, the overall findings were: “Ongoing, widespread recovery has led to the highest coral cover recorded for the northern and central regions of the Great Barrier Reef in 36 years of monitoring. This recovery continues to be driven by fast-growing branching and table corals (Acropora species).”
Can’t be any clearer than that. You found what you wanted and foolishly believed it. Meanwhile, others went there and found out for themselves.
Iain Boyle
The vehicle was damaged while later being towed and an $11k claim by the owner followed.