Letters to the editor: Rubbish a shocker but supermarket prices not so bad

Our visitors told us on many occasions how much cheaper our main supermarket prices are than prices are in Melbourne, writes one reader. Photo / NZME

We recently said goodbye to two visitors from Melbourne.

Neither had been to Rotorua before, and one had only visited New Zealand a couple of times in the distant past.

They spent time in Queenstown, Christchurch, Wellington and Rotorua, ending their month with two days in Auckland.

Their main remarks were on the beauty and activities of the Rotorua Lakes region - sadly marred by the worst roadside litter and fly-dumping they had seen.

They counted the number of abandoned and burned-out cars between Taupō and the Mamaku area, and I fear they would have seen more on their way onwards.

It's a poor sign of the character of some of our people.

Their comments on supermarket food prices were possibly the most startling. We are led to believe that the main reason for the exodus of New Zealanders to Australia is the perceived lower cost of living across the Tasman.

Our visitors told us on many occasions how much cheaper our main supermarket prices are than prices are in Melbourne.

We said how we think vegetable prices are so high here. "Melbourne's are 20 per cent higher at least", they told us.

Richard Kean
Rotorua

Issues for new council

I would like to congratulate our new mayor and all elected councillors and wish them all the best as they strive to gel as a team.

I have two issues I would like to bring to their attention. My first is a safety issue: the roundabout on Fenton and Marguerita Sts now has a growing problem with the shrubs.

When travelling into town, the shrubs, on the right-hand side, merge and block the view of the oncoming traffic. I know larger vehicles don't have a problem, but for those like me, in a lower vehicle, it is.

This also happened on the Fenton and Devon St roundabout, which I had also brought to the council's attention, and I'm very grateful to say the offending shrubs were removed.

My second issue is that the three gardens surrounding the outside of the sculpture, at Hemo Gorge, are an absolute disgrace. This is an entrance to our city. While the gardens in and around the CBD are a real credit, these three gardens have been sadly neglected.

In my eyes, this is not a good look.

Pauleen Wilkinson
Rotorua

Plane v sheep

Sitting back, thinking about global warming and controlling carbon emissions, I have the following concerns.

When a single return flight to New York burns about 200,000 litres of fuel, how does one equate this with sheep grazing on the hill country in New Zealand?

The first one - the Government is encouraging more tourists and more flights.

The second one - the Government will be taxing farmers to discourage them from grazing the hills.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Richard Sayer
Katikati

United Nations is a toothless lion

The United Nations, while a very good idea, is proving to be a toothless lion with regard in particular to the illegal invasion of Ukraine or any other international conflict.

It simply does not have the teeth to do anything to control things like that.

It is not entirely its fault, but it really should dump this veto provision for a selected few nations and make all voting a majority decision, which would be far more democratic.

D Lawrence
Tauranga

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