Madison Chamberlain, 19, died at Muriwai Beach in January. She was in the tray of a ute when it flipped and crushed her.
Banning vehicles on beaches
The front-page story about the death of Madison Chamberlain on Muriwai Beach highlights the failure of Auckland Council to manage the beach safely (Weekend Herald, Aug 31).
After three people died in a crash in 2004, Auckland Regional Council was well on the way to prohibiting vehicles on the beach when amalgamation took place in 2010.
Vehicles were to be kept off the beaches for safety reasons, but also because drivers trash the dunes, have crushed the famous toheroa beds and harmed other wildlife on the beach. Papakanui Spit at the north end of the beach is home to the very rare fairy tern — fewer than 40 left.
Instead, Auckland Council opted for a permit system that has been an abject failure. In 2015, four people died in an accident on the beach.
What the Weekend Herald story didn’t tell us is that right now Auckland Council is in the middle of a review of its traffic bylaws that includes the Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw. This is the mechanism by which council can ban vehicles on beaches, which in the Auckland region are only Muriwai and Karioitahi.
The Waitakere Ranges Local Board I serve on supports a ban on vehicles on all beaches, except for emergency services (eg surf lifesaving) and boat launching, but it is the governing body of council that will decide about Muriwai.
Auckland Council will soon be consulting with the public on these bylaw reviews, including whether to continue the failed permit system for Muriwai.
Auckland Council can and should ban recreational vehicles on beaches and block entry points. It is scarcely believable that given the evidence of death and destruction, the council continues to facilitate this mindless squandering of fossil fuels. It should find the fortitude to do the right thing and ban vehicles.
Sandra Coney, Waitakere Ranges Local Board member
Tragic mistake
I completely understand the parents’ grief after Madi was tragically taken when the ute she was on flipped on Muriwai Beach. I have driven on west coast beaches and know how dangerous and unpredictable they can be.
However, I just wonder if Madi would want her parents to live a life of bitterness and unforgiveness of the young man who was driving and made a tragic mistake.
Madi’s dad has driven “a lot of 4WDs and struggled with that beach”. Has he never broken the road rules, exceeded the speed limit and done dangerous things when young and stupid like many of us?
Steve Thomas, Titirangi
Mobility spaces
Correspondent Talia Nicol is absolutely right to raise the issue of those who illegally occupy mobility spaces (Weekend Herald, Aug 31).
As one who regularly has the same problem, it needs to be addressed and fines alone will not be enough. However, using the public to report offenders raises both staffing problems for the organisation, which will be inundated with the reports from the public, and legal problems in dealing with contested unsubstantiated reports.
A high proportion of the illegal parking takes place in malls, supermarkets and public offices that employ staff for general purposes. May I suggest that one answer would be to allow automatic fines to be issued against receipt of reports from such organisations with photographic evidence where available, and apportioning a significant proportion of the fine to such organisations as profit incentives so that they regularly check their carparks for offenders, particularly when informed by their customers of such?
Gerald Payman, Mt Albert
Foreshore debate
Congratulations to Audrey Young on her helpful and constructive article on the foreshore debate, which is about to take place in Parliament (Weekend Herald, Aug 31).
She has set forward carefully and impartially the two sides in the debate and explains the relevance of the relationship in New Zealand between the Crown and the judiciary.
It is hoped sensitivity and respect on both sides will help to create a solution that will benefit both the Māori people and all those who value and enjoy our beautiful beaches.
Chris Barfoot, Glendowie
Cancel culture
Re the article “Fear over far-right activist’s NZ tour” (Weekend Herald, Aug 31), this is a classic case of “cancel culture”.
The current left-leaning culture in NZ (and elsewhere) does not tolerate any questioning of its views. The article’s theme of various persons telling us what we should think about Candace Owens, I find rather insulting.
Why not let her come here, let her speak? Then we can make up our own minds rather than being told what to think. Free speech is actually good for a society, believe it or not.
A quote from Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would give up freedom to purchase safety, deserve neither and forfeit both.”
Karl van de Water, Northland
Pressuring banks
The recent Commerce Commission report on the lack of competition between our two supermarket groups is relevant and warrants attention. However, the drumming we take from our four largest (Australian-owned) banks — ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac — warrants far more urgent attention.
Woolworths and Foodstuffs may well make good profits, but they also employ 20,000 and 24,000 New Zealanders respectively, contributing a significant part of their revenue to the NZ economy. The four Australian banks employ an average of just 5000 employees each and are actively reducing that number with continued branch closures.
The supermarkets buy and sella majority of NZ-made products, supporting NZ businesses and providing a conduit for their products to market. The banks do no such thing.
The supermarkets support a complex supply chain network providing employment for hundreds of local drivers and staff in their own and related businesses, whereas the banks need no such support.
To add insult, the Australian banks maintain a higher net interest margin (the difference between term deposit and mortgage rates) in NZ than they do in Australia.
As we have found, it is very difficult to rally against the supermarkets because there are no real alternatives. But for our banks, it is a different story. Kiwibank, TSB, SBS, The Co-operative Bank and Heartland all offer wholly NZ-owned options.
So if we are keen to put pressure back on to the Australian banks then it is simply a matter of making a change. So why not Kiwis?
Nick Rowe, Greenlane
Minister floundering
It appears Dr Shane Reti and the truth are occasional companions. His Trump-like assertion that there was a single organisational chart showing Health NZ was “bloated and inefficient” has now proved to be a fiction (NZ Herald, Sept 6).
While Trump and the truth have probably never been in the same room, one would have thought a professional who supposedly took the Hippocratic Oath “to do no harm” would display honesty in such an important area.
We have seen Reti floundering with the demands of his ministerial responsibilities. He is no doubt “working at pace and is laser focused” because he seems to always be unavailable for interviews. Reti promises announcements, but they are always “sometime in the future”.
Richard Cole, Waipu
Our dad used to tell us about the night carts in Auckland. We were enthralled and disgusted at the same time. Ooh, yuck. It beggars belief how three new subdivisions in and near Auckland are now or soon to collect sewage with trucks until infrastructure catches up. How did this happen? Why were consents issued? Who wants to smell poo? The infrastructure surely needs to come first, or have I missed something? Dad told us the night carts stories in the 1960s. They had an excuse back in the day. Not now.
Steve Horne, Raglan
Hopefully, the children’s rhyme Finders Keepers Losers Weepers will triumph and the couple who found $232,000 in the roof space of the house they bought will be allowed to keep it.
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth
Everybody plays the political blame game, but this is the first time I have seen a government go so far with negative actions. Mindlessly reversing almost everything the previous Government has done, often with no plan in place. Its 100-day plan is just reversing everything the last Government did. Or change for change’s sake — let’s scrap the fuel tax and do road user charges instead.
Kushlan Sugathapala, Epsom
It’s about time for the tourist tax increase. I suspect the outcome will be positive because NZ is not expensive by world standards. Why do we also not insist visitors have travel insurance rather than give them free medical care when our health system is under pressure? We would never travel overseas uninsured.
Alan Milton, St Kilda
If the Government must put the overseas tourist levy up, I suggest they do it for only the summer months (September to April). The winter months are very quiet and every tourist then is a very valuable one.
Danna Glendining, Taupō
It is obvious by the expensive fast-food ads and the frequency they appear on TV that despite the harsh economic times, it isn’t affecting the fast-food business. The mind boggles at the production cost of the current takeaway chicken ad. It is quite interesting to note that none of the fast-food places are closing down.
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki
Ram-raiders irrespective of age should be given a two-year prison sentence to reflect on the small business owners’ lives they have ruined. Anything less is going soft on crime.
Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay
Having just received my latest combined power/gas invoice, I can see why many are struggling to pay their bills — $63.11 (including GST) of the total is just for the connections to the property and this is set to increase. From next month, a typical 30-day month will cost $79 before I even think about using any energy.
Maxine Samson, Whakatāne
All the new roading this Government wants to invest in may not be a waste. By the time it is ready, most of the people of Aotearoa will be riding bikes to work, school and to do their shopping. So, not many cars and plenty of room on the roads for all the cyclists — and the cycle lanes could be used by walkers and joggers.
Max Thomson, Devonport
With two minutes to go and the All Blacks behind, Beauden Barrett decides to kick possession away. Twice. A please-explain is in order.
Laurence Mallon, Te Atatū
Team NZ’s boat Taihoro has been dropped and damaged. Which challenging syndicate paid the crane driver?
Charlie Deam, Waiheke Island
There’s an old saying in yachting that says: “Dropped ketches don’t win matches.”
Gavin Baker, Glendowie
How a resilient Kiwi village hopes to bounce back from a big drop in visitors.