Perils of ownership

The National Rifle Association is fond of saying that it is people rather than guns that kill people, implying that the danger lies in the moral depravity of the shooter rather than the inanimate rifle.

Quite so - except that by extension, one could say that everyone should be allowed to own a hydrogen bomb. Not even the NRA would believe that. Asked why not, they would have to admit that while most H-bomb owners would no doubt be too responsible to set it off, the consequences of the rare exception would be just too great. If America’s media were not controlled by corporate interests, some bright journalists might have asked Donald Trump this question. salt-water lake working beautifully for decades delivering fun and wonder for parents and children, grandparents and young mums throughout the region. But in the 80’s the then council seconded it as a flood protection holding tank. Two-for-the-price-ofone seemed like a good idea at the time. Result? Almost instant algal bloom in the fresh water and the death of the modellers pond.

Solution: Revert to the original salt-water design and build a raindrain somewhere else, perhaps in a more remote corner of the regions enormous ‘‘Estuarine Reserve.’’

NCC, straighten up and fly right. This is not a complex issue. The modellers pond and all the community value poured into it for decades are treasured amenities across the electorate, and have been for long past living memory. Do the right thing. Rally the wider community to your brilliant initiative to not only save the modellers pond, but expand it to meet Tahunanui Beach’s imminent rebirth. Take responsibility for flood control yourselves and build a bigger tank somewhere else.

That’s what community leadership really looks like.