Dam benefits

Living in Golden Bay isolation and clouded by her usual preoccupation, Victoria Davis can perhaps be excused for her opinions about the Waimea Community Dam (February 28).

TDC financial management spreads costs and benefits across the region. So Brightwater ratepayers are paying for expensive weather cleanups and community developments to directly benefit her locality.

The dam has water supply benefits for Brightwater and other urban residents who are currently restricted from a guaranteed supply, and will be even more severely restricted from next summer.

It also has environmental benefits to the Waimea rivers and estuary systems that her professed green interests should support.

The councillors with urban ratepayers’ interests who voted against the dam presumably downplayed those benefits, despite producing no other realistic alternative. leave should have requested a leave of absence without pay.

The Nelson mayor knows very well that the new standing orders require Cr Fulton to request for a leave of absence if she isn’t going to be present for four or more meetings.

She cannot just wing continual apologies hoping that the public will not be aware that she is overseas training for a new career in yoga teaching at ratepayers’ expense. disservice by generating fake news.

Bob Irvine’s column is clearly not purporting to be news journalism. It’s placed on the Comment and Opinion page and his picture byline ‘‘Out of My Head’’ also reinforces the often humourous, satirical tone he uses to great effect. thinking that all our problems will be solved if we widen Rocks Rd in an area that is already proving to be inadequate. Old statistics and surveys are valueless with the current increases in numbers over the past three years.

Don’t bank on people using bicycles and public transport. Remember it is a personal choice how people travel.