Over the past 10 years, the Neighbourhood Support group has changed the face of our street. We now, apart from one student house, all live harmoniously, even though we come from very different backgrounds.
C COUPER, Whanganui
Waimarie's smoke
I am writing to express my dismay at the amount of pollution discharged by our iconic tourist attraction, the Waimarie.
The Waimarie is widely advertised as a major Whanganui attraction but, as it moves away from its mooring, the amount of black smoke and soot is alarming. This continues to discharge as it moves up the river showering passengers with soot and sparks.
There should be an alternative fuel, such as coke, that would be more environmentally friendly while making the trip more attractive to tourists.
Anecdotally, several people who have visited Whanganui, expressly to visit the Waimarie, have reported that the experience was very disappointing due to the discomfort of soot and ashes falling on them.
CELIA BOND, Whanganui
Fake news
"Fake news!" Now what is it, exactly?
It seems only newspapers and the print media provide any event news in this digital world, where there is more fiction than fact.
Television "news" is more about entertainment, with people sitting on a couch and occasionally reading a teleprompter between adverts. Over the Christmas holidays it virtually shut down.
What has happened to our reporters? Have they been replaced by celebrities who try to control talkback by constantly giving "their" views and "their" polls? Google is their resource.
Here are some facts. About 1990 the government increased the superannuation entitlement age from 60 to 65 in about five years. Little warning there.
Of the 70,000 migrants to New Zealand in the last year, the net loss of New Zealanders was 1700.
Little more than 30 per cent of Americans voted in 2016.
MMP and STV will reduce the number of people who vote, many merely by being disallowed.
Do we only want twits that twitter?
KEN CRAFAR, Whanganui
Velodrome roof
Just what we need - a velodrome roof.
If the cyclists going to pay for it, well and good, but not through the ratepayer.
This is a luxury we can ill afford, the same as a covered-in traders' market - use an empty shop.
Benefits for the city? Haven't we heard this before from a previous mayor about the glass school and art gallery? We still have over 37 empty shops, hundreds of houses for sale, flood protection plan for Anzac Parade homes, a $46 million wastewater system to pay for and you want a roof.
I'd rather put my money into a new port, which will create jobs.
MARGARET HADDON, Castlecliff
Which battle?
Like Potonga Neilson, I'm not sure which battle of the Taranaki wars Bob Harris (letters, February 24) is referring to.
The colonials suffered two defeats at the hand of Titokowaru (Te Ngutu O Te Manu under McDonnell, and Moturoa under Whitmore).
Perhaps he's referring to the taking of Tauranga-Ika Pa soon afterwards where, again under Whitmore, the colonials walked into an empty fortress.
Several theories as to why the pa was abandoned have emerged, including (in a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black) the one that Hauhau wouldn't fight killers of children!
The most likely one is that Titokowaru was caught with his pants down - with another chief's wife, leading to a revolt within his own ranks from which he never fully recovered.
Naturally Whitmore would rather have won a convincing military victory than have his opponent lose the game by exposing his middle wicket, but I'm sure he said what any relieved captain would have said: "A win is a win, so we'll take it."
As for General Cameron, the nickname the Lame Seagull was more a term of derision used by some on his own side due to his slow but methodical approach aimed at minimising casualties; putting into practice the lessons he had learned in the Crimea and quickly learning that Alma and Sevastopol were a far cry from the New Zealand bush. This earned him more respect from his Maori opponents than from his own impatient governor.
MURRAY CRAWFORD, Whanganui
