Letters: A wonderful city to live in

WE relocated to Whanganui a year ago. We were looking for somewhere warm to retire to and all the facilities for a couple getting older. We searched for a section and were lucky to find what we wanted on the east side.

We then moved here and lived in our motorhome for six months on our new, beautiful section. Yes, after six months confined in a small place, we are still happily married. In the meantime, a Palmerston North company was building our new home.

We used this time to line up services. We approached the council with our plans, and they could not have been more helpful. We sorted our plumber, then it was power. A contractor was selected for our garage and carport build. All these were lined up ready to go in early March when the house would be delivered by house movers. So we sat here and got to know our neighbours. What lovely people and a lovely area.

We also set some of the gardens up in between cycling around Whanganui. We could not be happier with our choice of places to live, and we spent time looking at them all in the lower part of the North Island.

Whanganui is a totally underrated city, with the business people being so helpful and obliging and the residents friendly.

I now need to point out how overwhelmed we have been by the standard of the council and all our sub-contractors.

The cheapest doesn't always mean the best, and we went with the businesses that made us feel the most comfortable, and we were not let down.

Everyone has been so amazing and has made the process so much easier.
When the home was delivered at 5am and ready to inhabit by 2.30pm the same day, we were very excited. That's when the plumber and power kicked into gear and two weeks later we moved in.

A few weeks later, up went the garage and carport.

Special thanks to Action Drainage, Strong Electrical, Versatile Garaging, Whanganui District Council, Presidential Homes, Central House Movers and Chorus for their wonderful service.

We promote this wonderful city at every opportunity we get.

GARY and TRINA DENTON
Whanganui East

Rubbish collection

In its "Community Link" page in the Midweek newspaper, the council notifies me that it will wish me to name in a survey, my future "household waste choice", but gives no details of any costs. The very first fact I will consider when making my decision, and I'm sure that others will also, is the cost of any replacement system compared with the existing one, which for me is one "stickered" black sack costing $2.72 per collection every second or third week.

As for recycling, I attend to that by the odd diversion to the recycling centre with accumulated drop offs when I am in the city, as again, I suspect many others also do.
Accordingly, as two of the three "take it or leave it" options would be funded by an increase of my already excessive rate payments, I reject them outright for the one option which is claimed to be the status quo.

However, if the images appended to the choices are correct, then the status quo option includes a wheelie bin which instantly denies it being my status quo.
It may be for some households, but it will not be for many others who, like me, put out the stickered black rubbish bags.

Whilst I have no objection to the substitution of wheelie bins for collection of household rubbish, I am sure that they would come with a substantially increased collection fee as currently none of the Whanganui private contractors utilising wheelie bins for rubbish collection come anywhere near my $2.72 collection cost.

However, if the Council is intending to require the replacement of bags with wheelie bins, I would accept that as long as the annual costs to me did not exceed $70.72, were I to wheel out the bin every second or third week.

I can but hope that this will be adequately explained in the survey which I have yet to receive.

V W BALLANCE
Westmere

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