Letters: More homes means more cars

A reader says the Ngongotaha roundabout is a pinch-point for traffic congestion. Photo/File

News that a new Special Housing Area in Rotorua could be set to have 190 new sections ready for new homes to be built is incredibly welcome.

Credit must be given to the council team who helped negotiate the original Special Housing Accord, particularly for their work in ensuring that at least 25 per cent of the properties to be developed must be smaller than the median size of new homes in the district.

Too often new homes are developed which only meet the upper end of the market, leaving those of us who don't need a palatial McMansion stuck fighting over older homes that need work.

The only concern with the proposed location in Ngongotaha is the extra stress a sudden boost in population will have on the surrounding infrastructure.

Already during peak hour traffic cars queue from the Ngongotaha roundabout through to the Waiteti Stream Bridge.

Adding another 100 cars to the road under current conditions would be make every day like the Morning of the Living Dead, with a queue of people in cars pre-coffee hobbling their way along the road.

The problem seems to stem from the roundabout, which stops from the flow of traffic.

Perhaps a slip lane here could alleviate traffic congestion in the area.

I hope that the council can work towards a solution to traffic congestion in Ngongotaha in the same forward thinking manner that they ensured housing affordability in future special housing areas, before, not after, things get worse this time.

Ryan Gray
Rotorua

End-of-life choice

It is disappointing to see that Simon Bridges has closed his ears, eyes and mind to the end-of-life choice issue.

He states he does not support this bill in line with his personal feelings.

He is refusing to even listen to the people who voted for him, and others in his constituency (as well as New Zealand) the vast majority of whom support this bill.

Polls continually show 70-80 per cent support for it.

He said in his interview on Breakfast earlier this month that doctors cannot play God, yet he himself is playing it by denying people the choice for themselves.

Please Mr Bridges, recognise that we are asking for choice at what is the last moments of our lives.

Esther Richards
Secretary, End-of-Life Choice BOP