Concern about trucks using new Sutton Bridge
I ATTENDED the dropin session in Middlemarch at which the new designs for the replacement Mt RossSutton Bridge were presented.
It needs to be stated that noone is opposed to a bridge design which will more than serve the needs of the local community. But will it be able to be used by the community, given the extreme transport demands of the proposed diatomite mine?
It is more than a couple of ‘‘recent arrivals’’ who are concerned, and it was a resident of 18 years who addressed the gathering to this effect.
Mine manager Craig Pilcher was there, but chose not to speak to the concerns raised.
To do as Strath Taieri Community Board chairman Barry Williams wants, and get the bridge finished first then worry about the diatomite mine, is at best na¨ıve, because by that time it will be too late.
Shane Loader
Middlemarch
I READ with alarm the article about mine traffic and concerns with the replacement Sutton Bridge.
I am familiar with State Highway 87 between Dunedin and Middlemarch.
The thought of four and ahalf truck and trailer units leaving the proposed Plaman Mine in Middlemarch per hour, 24/7 (that is 108 trucks per day one way), and the same number returning, is horrendous.
The highway is winding and steep, visibility in winter is often very low and the road extremely icy.
Cars stuck behind columns of slowmoving trucks is a recipe for disaster.
That mine manager Craig Pilcher dismisses concerns by saying that peakvehicle movements would not be until 2025 is an indication of shortterm thinking, as is the whole rationale behind the mine.
Whether peak traffic is now or in five years makes no difference to the issue of safety.
This number of trucks on the road is downright dangerous. Pam Hill
Waitati
Clear our pavements
TWO brief points.
Although I share some of the sentiments expressed by your correspondent B. A. Murphy regarding the allocation of undue amounts of ratepayer money for the benefit of recreational cyclists, they were not considered to be relevant to the subject at hand.
This is the blanket annexation in some parts of suburban Dunedin of space on pedestrian walkways — as if a slalom through many bins dumped lying on their backs, lids gaping open on collection days, is not already enough of an obstruction to be expected to contend with.
Secondly, the lady with the sidebyside pram and toddler intow was not a figment of imagination.
Some time ago, she used to pass each week day. The offending item at that time was a logsplitter — being operated wholly, or at least partly, from a position blocking the pavement for significant periods.
Ian Smith
Waverley
Return the money
I READ with interest the report
(ODT, 22.8.18) that it took Housing NZ nearly a month to call off debt collectors chasing up tenants who had been making debt repayments for now completely debunked claims of methrelated damage.
Is Housing NZ going to return all the money wrongly collected off these tenants?
If not, the entire department of Housing NZ, from chief executive Andrew McKenzie down, can legitimately selfreflect as being morally bankrupt.
Tony Merriman
Kew