Letters: Make more houses available for home buyers

If landlords sold their stock, there would be more available for buyers, says a reader. Photo / File

Re letter from Richard Evans (Letters, September 4). Evans obviously does not understand the way the market works.

If all the landlords are forced to sell (because they will not do it willingly) the houses they do not live in, then the flood of houses on to the market will bring the price down drastically allowing renters to become buyers - homeowners.

Which is what they all want to be instead of paying outlandish rentals to landlords.

Of course, landlords will lose a lot of money, but what the heck, they have made enough on the back of others. (Abridged)

Jim Adams
Rotorua

Our generous council

I have been thinking about how generous our council is. They "give" us all sorts of reasons to spend our rates on things that could be regarded as nice to have. Ie 3D printed monuments to stupidity.

They do the same with dreams of making our town change its appearance as in the Lakefront fiasco.

They "give" us excuses for accepting pay rises that they really know they shouldn't - they blame the Remuneration Authority.

They "generously dish out" rates increases to us ratepayers whose incomes have not even gone up to match the inflation rate - mine went up 12.4 per cent

They "generously" pat themselves on the back when they think they have done something wonderful - that library/health centre thing with the flash playground, when they could have made a covered weatherproof coach station.

The list goes on.

But I am pleased that councillor Raj Kumar got such a good increase. It might make him more inclined to stay there championing the cause of the poor, downtrodden ratepayer. (Abridged)

Rod Petterson
Rotorua

Intersection still dangerous

As a local businessman I pass through the Hemo Gorge multiple times most days. I wasn't surprised to see there has already been a reasonable serious accident at this recently upgraded intersection.

While the safety upgrade may win a walkway award, I believe it has serious safety issues with pedestrians being forced to walk/bike so close to the sharp bends and badly sloping camber in the road.

It was so fortunate no pedestrians will killed recently (Local News, August 31) when a logging truck tipped over on the roundabout spewing its logs over the, in my view, inadequate safety railing.

While the new roundabout may have slowed down the traffic speed at this intersection I believe it's very dangerous and have witnessed close calls there regularly.

With American studies indicating 25 per cent of all serious car crashes being caused by impaired vision or distracted drivers and when you have leading trauma specialists such as Waikato Hospital's Grant Christey saying distracted drivers are more dangerous than drunk ones, I'm absolutely staggered our council wants to add to the cocktail of distractions that already exist at the roundabout by erecting a sculpture in the middle of it. (Abridged)

Kevin Barker
Rotorua