Important we do not let tourism get out of hand
INTERNATIONAL tourist numbers visiting our country is currently a hot topic of conversation among New Zealanders, and nearly everyone I meet raises the subject of their discomfort with the present state of affairs.
There is a point when the benefits to any country from international tourism will outweigh the environmental, human, cultural and economic costs, not least the cost of building and providing infrastructure to cater for those visitors.
That point could surely be found through modelling, and I suspect it will lie around 33% of the resident population of any country, which for New Zealand, and to be generous, is 2 million visitors per year.
We have now exceeded that number, and the projected 4.5 million to 5 million such visitors per year within the next five years is cause for concern, and emphasises the need for a national discussion on managing annual tourist numbers.
Tourism is largely a form of entertainment, so we should ask ourselves whether we wish to sacrifice certain aspects of our New Zealand lifestyle for the sake of entertainment.
Capping or controlling tourist numbers is a growing feature at popular tourist destinations in Thailand, China, Peru and elsewhere. New Zealand is among the top five most popular tourist destinations in the world, so it will be wise to control or cap annual numbers.
Paul ElwellSutton
Haast
Leith bridge
I WAS reading the latest FYI Dunedin
I found in my mailbox and came across the brief passage about the new Water of Leith bridge near the stadium, which allegedly cost $1.4 million.
This caused me to recall the other publicised bridge plan, the one proposed to link the city to the harbour. The planned budget difference is striking ($20 million for the architecturally designed bridge, and even $10 million for the ‘‘simpler’’ design).
I am not contrary to ‘‘architectural design’’, but at this point I wonder about the reason for such a large cost difference. I would like to find out why a pedestrian bridge should cost
$10 million$20 million when it is clear that one can be built for much less.
As a ratepayer, I would just like to see that public money is spent conscientiously. Marco Brenna
Waverley
[Dunedin City Council transport group manager Richard Saunders replies:
‘‘The new bridge over the Leith and the proposed waterfront connection bridge are very different structures. The Leith bridge is a singlespan bridge at ground level with a length of about 50m. The bridge to the waterfront is a much larger structure, requiring a minimum height of approximately 6m over the railway lines, over a length of about 100m. A bridge of this scale will require more complex engineering and significantly more construction work than the bridge over the Leith.’’]
Mosgiel plan
ON behalf of the Hands Off Memorial Gardens group, I would like to thank the Dunedin City Council for their wise decision to not include the Mosgiel Memorial Gardens in the site selection for the proposed aquatic centre.
We would also like to thank those citizens of Mosgiel, Taieri and
Dunedin for the solid support they gave us in our endeavours to save the gardens.
We were very disappointed to see that the Mosgiel/Taieri community board did not support our cause, but supported the trust’s preferred site of the Memorial Gardens for the aquatic centre. Brian Miller
Mosgiel ....................................
BIBLE READING: For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. — Timothy 4:8.