Thank you for the update on the folly that is light rail (NZ Herald, May 17). At an estimated $15 billion, and sure to rise, it is way too expensive for one route, and will be of no benefit to the 90 per cent of Aucklanders that don't live near it.
New electric or hydrogen-powered buses could do the job, and be up and running in a couple of years, with minimal construction required. And buses have the added benefit of being flexible, whereas trams are confined by their tracks, unable to take a detour to avoid a crash site.
Hopes that air travellers will use it to get to the airport are optimistic, as the tram will be slower and less versatile than the current car and Airbus options.
Double the number of buses, and make all rides one dollar, and then there would be a major swing to public transport.
Tony Waring, Grey Lynn.
Port inaction
The port is a continuing and embarrassing blot on Auckland's escutcheon.
The much-vaunted container terminal automation retreats into the future and importers are concerned about the delays in receipt of goods. Container ships are diverted to Northport or Tauranga, creating congestion there also.
Casual observation suggests that there is a good deal of very expensive kit on the wharves which is standing idle for whatever reason.
It is high time Auckland Council, as the owner of the port, flexed its muscles (if it still has the will to do so) and demanded some answers from the port company directors and management.
Risk assessments and independent peer reviews do not equal action.
If this was a listed company with proper accountability to its shareholders the present situation would not be tolerated and heads would roll.
Peter Clapshaw, Remuera.
Madness ensued
On the way to the Ports of Auckland debate at Sky City on Monday night, I rode the Green Bus up Queen St between Customs and Victoria Streets.
It still looks like crazy people have been let loose with pink paint, concrete barriers, yellow plastic sticks and randomly extended kerb widths. Auckland Council should be thoroughly ashamed and order it cleared of all junk immediately.
That some of it was done under the guise of Covid distancing was not credible then or now and also not credible is the claim that it's not in any budget to fund a cleanup. Who would be foolish enough to believe that, having done this already, planners would be capable of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear from this space now?
The Ports debate, well-reported by Anne Gibson (NZ Herald May 18), was at times both entertaining and cringeworthy. Mayor Phil Goff sounded surprisingly pragmatic most of the time, but the hint dropped by Minister Michael Woods that a future use of the port land could include affordable housing sounded like a la-la land moment. Hope he's not picking up where Phil Twyford left off on light rail also.
Coralie van Camp, Remuera.
Middle ground
There will be no peace before a just settlement in the Middle East. Nakba Day, May 15, has just passed, a day when 750,000 Palestinians were forced off their land after the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. Nothing has changed.
Of course, both deserve to share the land. The Palestinians have been squeezed (with walls: Gaza is a living hell) into 11 per cent of the land. Israel has the rest, and even that is under threat with Israel driving ongoing illegal settlements in the West Bank.
The latest violence is a depressing repeat of terrorism on both sides and Israeli heavy-handedness will ensure violence continues. Will they ever learn? The US (and Biden) do not understand the history. Where is the UN?
Steve Lincoln, Botany Downs.
Weapons source
The actions of Hamas are disturbing. It has embedded its military network amongst civilians. This is not just tactical; it is their strategy. Weapon depots are in the basements of hospitals, schools and residential blocks. Rockets are launched from the same sites. It then targets the other civilian population with these missiles - although a third have mis-fired, exploding within the confines of Gaza.
But the real protagonist in all this is the support network behind the Hamas missiles. These missiles are sourced primarily from Hezbollah, the proxy of Iran. It is through this channel Iran is providing the means, resources, technology and weapons. It is the Hamas - Hezbollah - Iran nexus that has built the missile and terror infrastructure.
Hamas is entirely responsible for its own decisions and must be held to account. But even they are being used and manipulated by others in the region. Iran must also be held to account. As well as Hamas, the role of Hezbollah and Iran in this current conflict must be exposed and made clear.
Ian Dunwoodie, Lower Hutt.
Open opportunity
The impact of Covid-19 and the intensification of housing has created "the perfect storm" on how we as Aucklanders use our local and regional parks and national open space. Now is the time for the Auckland Council and the Department of Comservation to urgently prepare an outdoor recreation/tourism plan for the Auckland region.
The assumption by some that large areas of existing open space, such as racecourses and golf courses, which are "the lungs of the city" are permanently protected is not correct. Financial pressures mean the administrators of these areas are under increasing pressure to sell them off for housing. Today's strong visionaries of the like of Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, Logan Campbell, Darcy O'Brien, Arnold Turner and Stephen Tindall are now required to speak up to permanently protect our environment and elite soils.
Ngarimu Blair of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei could take the lead by setting aside a large area of their land at Oneoneroa, Belmont, as a regional/tourism park. It would be sad for present and future generations if these opportunities were lost for ever for short term, monetary gain.
Bruce Tubb, Belmont.
Feeding minds
Did we learn anything from Jamie Oliver about school lunches? It's the packaging, of course, but it is primarily the message.
These darling children are led to believe that food comes like this. Just click on like.
Empower each school to teach and cook nutritious meals on site.
Robin Binsley, Maungatūroto.
Short & sweet
On land
Action needs to be taken immediately to preserve the remaining market gardens. These gardens must not be rated out of existence by classifying them residential. P D Patten, Albany.
On Dart
William Dart's reviews are poetic and inspirational gems as he, through words, so beautifully conveys the medium of music. Edwina Duff, Parnell.
William Dart's review of Beethoven's Fifth, played by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra was a masterpiece of illumination. I could feel, see, hear and all but smell, the grandeur. Kate Gore, Pyes Pa.
On vaccine
Eventually, the unvaccinated will have to take the consequences of their choice. The majority of the population will not tolerate a future lockdown or any restriction for the very small minority who oppose the simple public health measure. Geoff Williamson, Mission Bay.
Why is the Ministry of Health only now planning to address the shortage of 4500 vaccinators? The Ministry would have been aware last year that a vaccine was on its way here. Janie Weir, Newmarket.
On Palestine
So long as Hamas continues to fire missiles at Israel, Israel will continue to fight back. Those who are condemning Israel for defending itself are emboldening Hamas and are effectively perpetuating this conflict. Kent Millar, Blockhouse Bay.
The Palestinian people are imprisoned in Gaza by an Israeli government operating an illegal military occupation, which is constantly increasing. Under international law, the Palestinians are entitled to resist this occupation using any means available to them. Martin Allen, Russell.
