Southern Link

Jim Cable Nelson, March 3 John Carnegie Chief executive, Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand, Wellington, March 2

For the Nelson City Council to commit to spending $519,000 on a pedestrian/cyclist tunnel on the Railway Reserve walkway at Bishopdale is yet another signally myopic squandering of public monies by this council. Not under Waimea Rd, but under 20 metres of side street that walker/cyclist users could transit virtually unimpeded!

This council and its unrealistic anti-car, anti-ratepayer advocates, who have been adamantly opposed to installing a far more necessary pedestrian tunnel at Hampden St, seemingly choose to ignore the original agreed-to consent specification for a bridge at the site – an integral part of the now desperately-needed Southern Link that councillor Matt Lawrey and his cohorts so determinedly opposed, and the inevitability of which is now more demanded than ever. Surely even the most unreceptive mind can appreciate that providing for the link now, and building the bridge, would be a far better utilisation of and far less wasteful of public funds?

With mayor Rachel Reese’s decision to abandon Nelson for 30 weeks of her term, and with emerging indications of the council’s dysfunctionality being what they are, surely there are sound reasons for seeking the oversight and involvement of the Local Government Commission.

Fossil fuel industry

The claim by Terrence Loomis that the Government subsidies the oil and gas industry (‘‘Climate crisis means ending government fossil fuel support,’’ Nelson Mail, February 26) is just plain wrong. This myth has been examined many times by government agencies and international bodies, which have all dismissed it.

Just last year the Productivity Commission concluded that there is less than $4 million in ‘‘support’’, but most of that is for geoscience research, which helps us understand our natural resources and increases our knowledge of fault lines and natural hazards.

The tax exemption for offshore vessels Mr Loomis mentions also has a simple explanation. It avoids a situation where rigs are rotated every few months, adding unnecessary costs and increasing transport emissions for no gain.

The same goes for decommissioning old fields. This is not a ‘‘subsidy’’ but a rebate for overpayment of taxes and royalties during the previous years. The same treatment applies to every other industry, which is why even the Green Party supported this policy.

In reality, our industry is a major earner for New Zealand. The Government receives 42 per cent of all profit from most fields, with an average of $500 million per year in taxes and royalties going to the Crown.