NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Politics

Letters: We need 5000 more homes

Whanganui Chronicle
16 Jan, 2019 01:00 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

THE downside of the economic growth we are experiencing here in Whanganui is that some unfortunate people are struggling to find rental accommodation, which has also become much more expensive.

Sure, things have got more expensive — builders, plumbers, electricians, etc, are so busy with all the new builds around town that they can now charge more — and the value of housing has risen.

However, growing our population, regardless of its unintended consequences, is extremely important — it helps spread the rates burden among more people and creates jobs, which keep our young people from needing to go further afield to find employment.

Rates are too expensive in Whanganui because of the cost to build the much-needed wastewater treatment plant and also because there are not enough people to share the cost of running a district council. We could do with another 5000 homes in Whanganui and that would reduce rates. It's called economies of scale. For those on low incomes who are struggling to find accommodation, don't blame the godsend of economic growth that has finally arrived. Blame the previous National Government for selling off over 20 per cent of state houses in Whanganui.

While the new Coalition Government has already started to build more here, many more are needed, and we need to put pressure on the Coalition Government to do that. And, if you think things are tough in Whanganui, where housing is some of the cheapest in New Zealand, try living elsewhere.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

If you can't afford to live here, you can't afford to live — and that is a central government problem, not a district council problem.

STEVE BARON
Whanganui

Hull lot of profit

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

[Regarding the boat hull in Putiki that may become Airbnb accommodation].
Most encouraging to read Ms McDouall's mention of the word "profit".

BERNARD J. CORKERY
ratepayer,Whanganui

Bridge needs flexibility

The Dublin St Bridge gives a rough ride despite recent resealing. This problem came to attention during the 1990s, when I was a member of the council, and our engineers explained that high axle loads from modern trucks and buses were flexing the bridge more than in the past.

Discover more

Politics

Letters: Dumping in the dunes not on

18 Jan 02:00 AM
Kahu

Jay Kuten: Simon Bridges' pipe dreams

30 Jan 03:30 AM

The bridge deck consists of steel trough sections that were filled and topped with lightweight concrete to make a level surface. Coke from the gas works was used as aggregate for this brittle concrete which had shattered from the flexing.

Replacement with standard concrete would increase the weight of the bridge structure, reducing its payload. I was scoffed at for suggesting replacement with expanded polystyrene, which is sometimes used in road embankments where soil conditions will not support solid earth fill. Since then successive engineers have experimented with different types of seal but none of them solve the underlying problem, the fractured sub-base.

A recent development is flexible concrete which uses fine aggregates such as silica or fly ash together with micro fibres and super plasticisers. This reduces weight and increases the tensile strength of the concrete so that it can bend without cracking. It sounds like an ideal solution for our bridge.

Our engineers back in my day, in response to my questioning, assured us that the bridge will last indefinitely if it is properly maintained. So I don't understand why current councillors and engineers keep harping on about replacing it. Their justification appears to be traffic jams on the bridge but that could be fixed for peanuts by removing the Dublin St roundabout and putting in a compulsory stop for southbound Aramoho vehicles to allow free flow of bridge traffic. A small amount of imagination is required, which seems to be lacking.

STEPHEN PALMER
Whanganui

Make drugs legal

For once I can find some agreement with Jay Kuten, and Chester Borrows as well; the policing of drugs does more damage than the drugs, with the jailing causing tremendous amounts of collateral damage.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

I have written before to this paper about legalising all drugs, selling through drug stores to people with an identifying points card so we have quality control, a tax take, cutting the supply of money to the drug cartels and the petty crooks. And the computer can red-flag excessive consumption, so we can approach them before they jump out of the woodwork and kill people.

Now we have to hope we can find some politicians brave enough to take on the bleeding hearts.

G.R. SCOWN
Whanganui

Send your letters to: The Editor, Whanganui Chronicle, 100 Guyton St, PO Box 433, Whanganui 4500; or email editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Politics

New Zealand|politics

Labour leader Chris Hipkins Live on Herald Now

Premium
Politics

Seymour reckons banks are 'fairly taxed', expects Willis' work will find same

07 Jul 05:47 AM
Property

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei wins Environment Court appeal for recognition

07 Jul 05:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Politics

Labour leader Chris Hipkins Live on Herald Now

Labour leader Chris Hipkins Live on Herald Now

Labour leader Chris Hipkins on Covid inquiry, Tāmaki Makaurau, banks and tax. Video / Herald NOW

Premium
Seymour reckons banks are 'fairly taxed', expects Willis' work will find same

Seymour reckons banks are 'fairly taxed', expects Willis' work will find same

07 Jul 05:47 AM
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei wins Environment Court appeal for recognition

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei wins Environment Court appeal for recognition

07 Jul 05:00 AM
Acting PM David Seymour believes banks are paying their fair share of tax.

Acting PM David Seymour believes banks are paying their fair share of tax.

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP