Bethlehem
Kick in the guts
Tauranga City Council’s decision to grant free public transport to more than 500 council staff (News, September 21) is, in my view, just another kick in the guts for long-suffering ratepayers.
I accept that the stated cost of about $100,000 a year is not necessarily a huge sum but it’s just yet another imposition on ratepayers on top of rate increases well ahead of the inflation rate.
When the cumulative effect of $100,000 there and $100,000 somewhere else is taken into account, it definitely starts to add up and even this $100,000 equates to roughly $2 a year per Tauranga rateable property.
In my view, this is just yet another cost imposed upon us without question.
Mike Baker
Bethlehem
Signs are distracting
Which is worse?
On Cameron Road, in Tauranga, between Barkes Corner and the entrance to Tauranga Racecourse, there are 28 election signs all vying for your attention.
Wedged between those signs is a road safety sign that reads: “Let driving distract you from your phone”.
It leads to the question, which is worse?
Mark Bougen
Welcome Bay
Profit before welfare
Is it ethically acceptable to own an empty house? It’s just business, isn’t it? Like investing in gold.
But does gold deprive a family of a roof over their heads?
We don’t have a housing shortage in NZ - what we do have is empty holiday homes, investment properties, and holiday rentals.
The bigger picture is a grim indicator of human nature. How as a species some of us crave more than our fair share of assets and wealth.
The very trait that has made us the most successful species on earth is the thing that is killing us.
Global warming is the result of individuals and businesses which have put profit before the welfare of humanity.
Lesley Haddon
Rotorua
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