We have had numerous tenants in Keith St causing fights and damage to people's property, including my own fences and gates.
After calls to police and landlords, particular tenants were quietly told to move on.
In the last year or so, the street has quietened down to maybe one to two callouts a week.
I believe Keith St is coming up slowly and will change for the better.
There are still pockets on the street that cause trouble, but police monitor them thoroughly.
I disagree with Paul Radich, representing Countdown, because he wants to make a profit from alcohol sales but he hasn't seen the full impact of alcohol purchased in bulk by people who primarily cause trouble in our community.
Those on the frontline, like the police and nurses and doctors at the hospital see the full impact of what alcohol does to our community.
Alcohol has a big impact on the health of the individuals. It can contribute to mental ill health; it can physically change the anatomy (liver disease and brain cancer); it can change the emotional state (makes people get angry more quickly -- domestic violence and sexual assaults); it can cause hallucinations and paranoia if combined with drugs.
These are all examples of why booze laws in Whanganui need to be stricter and enforced by the police and the right agencies, so people can get the right help if they choose to.
I believe those laws need to change quickly, so crime figures will be substantially reduced for all our sakes. (Abridged)
RACHAEL HAMPTON
Whanganui
Bye, Annette
I'm sure Annette King will be missed from the Labour Party, as I have always held her very high in my mind, even though I have never voted for her party.
Whenever Annette has spoken, she has always come across very well and is a much loved lady of politics, so much like the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher.
It's time for her to bale out after 30 years, so you enjoy your retirement, Annette. You thoroughly deserve it.
GARY STEWART
Foxton Beach
The other history
As we all know, there are two sides to every story.
Bob Harris (letters, February 24) reckons my Hauhau relations were defeated at Waitotara.
If he is referring to the so-called Battle of Moturoa, this is a classic example of colonial history as written by the colonials.
The Hauhau forces in occupation of Moturoa had become tired of waiting for one General Cameron to attack and had sneaked off some days earlier for a bit of R and R.
So when Governor Grey led a force of colonial militia to Moturoa, they found an empty pa. But dispatches sent back to Wellington proclaimed a great victory with no losses.
The Hauhau were actually over on the other side of the Waitotara River, watching the show from another pa called Poronui.
Legend has it the colonials fired a volley into the empty pa. For realism? All of which had the Hauhau falling about laughing, as they did when the same General Cameron invaded Taranaki with a 2000-strong force by marching along the shore at low tide.
This earned him the nickname The Lame Seagull.
POTONGA NEILSON
Castlecliff
