So now that the bylaws governing future land use will be limited to mandated oversight of the most vulnerable areas of individual properties, farmers and foresters can control any reduction in activities that occur on the whole farm or forest estate.
Consequently, these business owners will be looking for advice about all things related to the mandated retired areas, including the selected species of trees and plants that have the best root system that will lead to the stability of any erodible land. And, my guess is that the species they choose will not necessarily be what is commonly referred to as “indigenous” – Manu’s preferred option.
For example, modern varieties of poplar offer superior root systems to just about anything else but also can be farmed as a recyclable crop if a resource consent allows it.
Therefore, we shouldn’t be in a rush to limit the options available to the land owners, providing they comply with the introduced bylaws that are put there to avoid a repeat of the mistakes of the past.
I can’t see why Manu is so hell-bent on criticising the current Government’s genuine efforts to give him and others associated with independent reviews of past land use – pretty much all they asked for.
I suppose for him, the fact that farmers and foresters are now going to decide how they meet the new requirements would be regarded as a blow for his preferred option of locking the place up and throwing away the key. Too bad!
Clive Bibby
Totangi Rd in appalling state
Can’t fix the potholes
Can’t fix the craters
Can’t give us metal
We can’t even drive along the road - it is like a lake!
A concerned neighbour offered a paddock as a detour, but it’s a tad wet!
Maybe we could have this new road sign, as cones are not applicable!
Boat ramps are no help either- it is too slippery.
So you townies, come for a new experience, come visit Totangi Rd.
It is only 20 minutes out of town.
You might have to wash your car afterwards.
Rita Barclay
PS: The council and its road maintenance people don’t want to visit!
Trickledown indeed
Re: Purpose of Trust Tairāwhiti.
The sale of the network should make the use of funds to support electricity reticulation - one stated purpose in the Trust Tairāwhiti deed - obsolete. In my mind, electricity reticulation should have been part of the network’s operational policy.
The other purpose of the trust, to foster business interests likely to encourage or sustain economic growth within the district, leads me to believe that the group titled as beneficiaries of the trust represents only a small percentage of our population.
The trickle-down effect has long since been discounted as a method of redistribution of funds, of which this appears to rely upon.
PJ Reed
Reef will evolve
Re: Coral vivid and plentiful, July 18 letter.
We also went to the Great Barrier Reef out of Port Douglas a few months ago and really enjoyed it. Yes, there was dead coral, but there were also vast areas of stunning live parts of the reef and it was teeming with life. I was interested to see both sides for myself.
The reef will evolve to suit the environment over time – it’s what nature does and has done for millennia, with or without our influence.
Tanya Hawthorne
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”.
Coral recovery on the GBR is complex and varied. 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 GBR, 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
